They Once Were Angels
by mundane-pansycakes
Summary: When Luce and Daniel's daughter, Penny, discovers what her parents used to be, thing become complicated. Will the two remember their past lives? Or will everything seem like some hysterical story?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fallen fanfic, so I hope you all like it. I wanted something to happen in Luce and Daniel's mortal lives that brought them back into the angelic world, and this was my idea. Hope you like it! Also, I named their daughter Penny after Penn :) **

* * *

"Mom, shut up!" Penny Grigori laughed over her book, her mom continuing to tease her about her boyfriend, Leo. Penny had just come home a couple days ago from Shoreline, where she goes to boarding school. She was home for winter break, and she couldn't be happier. Although she loved Shoreline, she really did miss her parents.

"Yeah, Luce, shut up!" her father added, mocking Penny's high-pitched voice. Her dad walked into the kitchen, running a hand through his golden blonde hair. He leaned down to kiss his wife, Lucinda, on the cheek before taking a seat beside Penny at the table.

"Don't tell me you're not the least bit curious about Penn's boyfriend, Daniel?" her mother joked, smiling brightly. Leo was coming over for dinner tonight to meet the parents. Lucinda had arranged it with Leo's parents, all while Penny gestured furiously at her. Penny knew this night would be a huge embarrassment, but some part of her was still excited.

"I can't say I'm not," Daniel grinned, his violet eyes gleaming. Lucinda stood up and placed a fresh vase of white peonies on the center of the table, then proceeded to grabbing the plates. "So, what times is the BF coming?"

"BF? Dad, really?" Penny rolled her eyes.

"What? I'm just trying to stay hip," Daniel laughed, helping his wife with the plates.

"He'll be here in, like, 10 minutes, dad. And pleeeasseee don't embarrass me!" Penny pleaded. She stood up and fetched the silverware, joining in to help.

"I'll try not to," he said, taking the chicken out of the oven. Her father was more than handsome, with his tall figure and strong build. And his violet eyes were more than unusual. Her friends always gawked at him in awe, making Penny feel uncomfortable. And her mother, with her flawless face and etherel glow, always brought jealousy from their parents. Penny didn't understand why, but they just seemed so angelic. "Now, why don't you finish getting ready? We'll take care of dinner."

"Thanks," Penny said, then rushed upstairs to her room. She hadn't realized how nervous she'd been up until now. Her parents were meeting her boyfriend for the first time. And not just any boyfriend. Her true love. Well, she thought so anyway. She was only 17, but she felt as if her fate with Leo was sealed. After all, her own parents fell in love at the same age.

Her room was nearly empty, most of her belongings still at Shoreline. Her bed and a half-empty dresser were the only thing occupying the room. Her long, black hair, like her mother's, hung in loose curls over her shoulders. Her eyes were a mix of gray and purple, like her dad's. She was dressed in a simple black dress that clung to her skin, a necklace her only accessory. The necklace was a gift from her mother, a simple gold chain with an angel wing dangling from it. Her mother never told her why, but she had a weird fascination with angels. She said it was something about their eternalness.

She heard the doorbell ring and jumped.

Leo was here.

She fumbled to put on her heels, hoping she didn't look too done. She tossed her hair a couple times before she was satisfied and pinched her cheeks until some color appeared. After applying a quick coat of lipgloss, she was down the stairs and at the door. Penny had told her parents that she would be answering the door in advance.

"Leo," she whispered as she opened the door. He was standing on her doorstep, dressed in a nice shirt and black pants. His brown hair was brushed to the side and his smile was crooked. He leaned in and kissed Penny on the lips, a quick peck, before stepping inside.

"You look . . . beautiful," he murmured, taking her in. She only blushed.

Leo was a part of the honors program at Shoreline, which only allowed apparent geniuses in it. Penny had attempted the test, but didn't come close to making it in. She didn't care, though. She had 3 classes with Leo, anyways, along with every night.

Right as she was about to speak, Lucinda appeared and smiled at her boyfriend. "You must be Leo!"

When Leo didn't reply, Penny turned to him, nudging him to speak. But he just stood there, eyes wide, mouth agape. He was even shaking. "Leo? You okay?" Penny asked nervously.

"Uh-uh, yeah. Yeah, Penn. Everything's fine. I'm sorry," he said, shaking away the moment hastily. But Penny knew it was something more. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Grigori."

"Oh, please, call me Lucinda!" her mother grinned, beckoning him into the kitchen.

"Lucinda," he breathed, perplexed by the name. "Of course."

Penny looked at him worriedly, raising her eyebrows in question. "I'm just nervous, that's all," he replied, obviously lying. Penny would talk to him later.

"Um, Leo, this is my dad, Daniel," she said, hoping to ease his nerves, or whatever it was. Maybe once they started eating things would get better.

"Nice to meet you, sir," Leo nodded, shaking his hand. "Uh, thank you for having me over. It's really nice of you." Penny sat down on the right side of the table, across from her father. Leo slid into the seat beside her and quickly took a drink of water. Something was definitely off.

"Let's eat."

* * *

After the most awkward dinner of her entire life, Penny dragged her boyfriend up to her bare room to talk privately. "What is wrong with you? My parents probably think I'm in love with an alien!" she exclaimed, locking the door.

"Wouldn't be too far off," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm sorry, it's just. I need to tell you something. Something . . . important."

"What is it?" Penny asked, sitting down on the bed beside him, looking at him. Maybe something was seriously wrong. He took her hand in his, his strong fingers wrapping around her frail ones, and looked away nervously.

"I'm . . . I'm not completely _human_," he admitted, then waited for a laugh. But it didn't come. Penny just sat there, staring at him, in a calm state.

"Keep going."

"What? You don't, you know, think I'm crazy or something?" Leo asked, astonished. "I mean most people would. This doesn't happen to you everyday, does it? Or do you already know? I mean, about your parents?"

"My parents? What does this have to do with them? I want to know about _you_," Penny urged on.

"I . . . I'm Nephilim," he explained. "It means that I'm part angel. My grandfather was an angel, so I'm only about a quarter Nephilim. Mostly human."

Penny stood up, trying to grasp the idea. "Okay," she nodded. "Okay. Okay okay okay. You're part angel. That kind of makes sense, right? I mean, yeah, totally makes sense. Yeah," she babbled, trying to hide her confusion.

"Penn, please stop that. It's not that big of a deal. I don't, like, have wings or anything," he laughed, although a kid in his class actually did. "Calm. Down." He took her in his arms and sat her on his lap, stroking her face softly.

"You're part angel."

"Yes."

"That's incredible."

"A little," he laughed, kissing her cheek softly.

"Okay," Penny whispered, her eyes full and violet. She was finally wrapping her head around the idea. "But why did you tell me? Why now? Why tonight?"

"Well, that's the confusing part," he sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He cupped her face, nerves fluttering through his body, and took a deep breath. "I told you because of your parents."

"What about them?"

Another deep breath. "They once were angels."


	2. Chapter 2

"WHAT?" Penny gasped, staring at her boyfriend in disbelief. "Okay, now you're losing it. This Nephilim thing, that I can handle. But accusing my parents of being _angels_?" She stood up and paced around the room, shocked that she was in love with this liar. Did he really think she was so stupid?

"Penn, please listen. I'm not lying. You just need to let me explain," Leo pleaded, standing up and going over to her. He tried to touch her, but she just shook him off.

"Don't touch me," she whispered, tears clouding her vision. "I don't want you to explain. I want you to leave."

"Penny," Leo begged.

"Just, please go," she said again, walking over and crawling into her bed, facing away from him.

Leo turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. He didn't understand how he messed everything up in a matter of minutes. Why would he think that Penn would believe him? Francesca had warned the Nephilim that no humans will believe them. It's just not in their nature.

"If you want proof, I'll show you. Back at Shoreline."

Penny didn't respond, but she was curious. The idea of her parents as angels sounded ridiculous, but she couldn't help her curiosity. What if Leo was telling the truth? It sure would explain a lot of things.

Her silence led Leo to continue, "We learned about them. The honors program . . . it's for Nephililm. We learned about learned about some of the fallen angels. And your parents," he took a deep breath. "They're kind of legends."

Penny couldn't stop herself from turning over to look at him. "Legends?"

He laughed lightly, happy that she's hearing him out. "Yeah. Their story is the most famous in the angel world. It's a beautiful love story." Leo sat down in the bed beside her, hoping he could tell her the tale of the girl who died and the boy who waited.

"A love story? About my past-angel parents? This sounds totally normal," Penny laughed. She always used humor in confusing situations. It was her way of trying to grasp what was going on.

"I don't think normal is the right word," he whispered. "But it truly is an incredible story. I'll tell it to you if you will listen."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"You can talk to my teachers. They knew your parents before they became mortals," he suggested. He wasn't positive his Shoreline teachers knew the famous Lucinda and Daniel, but he had a pretty good idea they did from their expressions when they talked about them. Like remembering a lost friend.

"Became mortals? Why did they do that? Who would give up being an _angel?" _Penny asked in disbelief. Although she wasn't completely sold on Leo's story, she was eager to learn more about it. It _would _explain a lot of things. The purple eyes. The eternal beauty. The angel wing necklace.

"They did it so they could be together. That was the price to pay," Leo said, sadly. He knew that Luce and Daniel's love was worth more than immortality, but giving it all up had to have been hard. After thousands of years of flying in the skies, it's hard to land on the ground.

"That's beautiful," she smiled, thinking of her parents, wings spread, throwing away immortality just so that they could love each other. "But why couldn't they be together?"

"I'll get to that in the story. But I don't think you should hear it from me."

"Why not?"

"Because I wasn't there. But I do know a few people who were. And I'm sure they'd love to share it with you," he said excitedly, thinking of both his teachers, and the few fallen angels he happened to know. "We can talk to them when we get back."

"No," she said, shaking her head and biting her lips. "I want to go now. I need to know the truth."

"Now?" Leo asked, shocked. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and his parents surely wouldn't let him go back to Shoreline.

"It would only be for the night. We can take my car. I can tell my parents I'm sleeping over Jamie's. They'll understand," Penny requested. She was so anxious to learn the truth. She couldn't even wait a few days.

Leo thought about it for a few minutes, pondering the proposition. He knew that Francesca and Stephen were staying at Shoreline for the holidays, and who knew who else? And his parents would understand if he explained to them that his girlfriend was the daughter of the most famous angels in all of history. "Fine. But just one night." Penny screamed with excitement.

* * *

An hour later, Penny and Leo were sitting in a blue Honda with music and laughter filling their ears. After a little convincing to their parents, the two managed to lie their way back to Shoreline for one night. A night where everything would be revealed.

In the car, Penny amused herself by asking Leo questions about being Nephilim. Leo hated the attention, but loved the excitement in his girlfriend's voice. "Do you have any special powers?"

"Ummm, not yet, but I'm working on it. A couple people in my class can do cool stuff like levitate or read minds," he says.

"What power will you have?"

"I don't know. I might not even have any."

"Does your mom have powers?"

"No, she's human."

"So it's your dad that's Nephilim? What can he do?" Penny's voice squeaked with excitement as they drove along the highway towards their boarding school. Some part of her ached for all of this to be real and true, to have something so extraordinary happen to her. The other part just rumbled with doubt.

"He's great at glimpsing Announcers," he said.

"What are those?" Penny asked, her eyes bulging with interest.

"Those are a little confusing. Save that for another day. STOP!" he screamed. Penny was so consumed with him that she almost ran into another car. "God, Penn, calm down," he laughed.

"I'm sorry, it's just . . it's all so amazing! I mean, for all I know this could be a bunch of bull, but it's kind of fun believing it. I mean, in some weird alternate way, _I'm _part angel!" She screeched.

"Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way. But, Penn, your parents are mortal now. They _were _angels. You have to remember that," he reminded her, knowing that if she became too excited with the idea, she'd be disappointed.

"I know, I know," she assured him. They kept driving for a few more minutes until the large campus came into view. After parking in the empty lot, Leo and Penny raced to the Nephilim lodge, where the only light on campus was on.

Penny had never been in the lodge, but she knew from Leo that it was cozy, cabin-like hang-out. She wondered who would be waiting inside it. Who would reveal everything to her?

"Come on," Leo said, opening the door and grinning. When he stepped inside, his jaw dropped at the sight of them. Not only did Francesca and Stephen sit in the lodge, but so did a whole group of other. Arriane, Roland, Annabelle, Cam. Even the frequently talked about Shelby and Miles.

"Hello, Leo . . . What are you doing here? It's winter break?" Francesca said, standing up from the couch and uncomfortably looking at Steven.

Leo stepped aside to let Penny through and the whole room seemed to draw in a breath. Only Arriane was brave enough to smile and laugh, "Well, it's about time someone brought baby Grigori here!"


	3. Chapter 3

Penny squirmed as the unfamiliar girl, with choppy black hair and an ecstatic look on her face, hugged her. "Arriane!" she heard Leo's teacher yell, aggravated. After a few seconds, the girl clasped her hand around Penny's and dragged her to the second of the room. Leo smacked himself on the head.

"Leo? What is wrong with you?" Francesca nearly yelled, trying to keep her temper under control. She nearly never got angry, but bringing Luce and Daniel's daughter to meet a bunch of fallen angels was an exception.

"I'm sorry, I, uh, I didn't know that _she _was their_ daughter! _I mean, it's not like I got a warning or anything," Leo stammered, trying not to upset his teacher. "And I went over for dinner, and they were just _there. _I didn't know what to do!"

"Francesca," Steven stood up and walked over to his wife. Steven was always the more reasonable of the two when it came to these kind of situations. "Obviously, the boy was ignorant as to what was going on. How about we talk about this together and figure everything out?" he suggested. After a moment of hesitation, Francesca nodded stiffly and returned to her seat. Leo rushed over to where Penny sat, tucked between Annabelle and Arriane. Great.

"Umm, sorry, I don't really know what's going on," Penny apologized sheepishly. "I didn't mean to cause any problems."

"Don't worry, honey! No one's asking for an apology from you!" Arriane smiled, nudging her in the side. "_I _for one couldn't be happier that you're here!"

"Arriane, please," Francesca said. "I'm sorry, this all must be very confusing to you, Penny."

"How do you know my name?" she asked. Confusing was an understatement.

Francesca glanced at Steven then turned back towards Penny. "I'm afraid we know quite a lot about you. It's going to take a while to explain." She shifted her gaze to Leo, who stood behind Penny, his hands on her shoulders. "Now, Leo. Let's start with how you know Penny."

Leo bit his lip and said, "We've been going out for a few months. I met her at the start of the year."

"And you didn't know who she was?" Francesca raised her eyebrows.

"No! I didn't even know they had a kid, let alone one that went to Shoreline."

"And her last name wasn't a dead giveaway?" Roland asked, sighing. Was this Nephilim really that stupid?

"I mean, it should have been, but I didn't think about it. Plus, there's got to be more than one person with the last name Grigori, right?" he defended, although his argument sounded pretty useless. Penny still sat there, a perplexed look on her face. "And how did _you _not notice, Francesca? Obviously, you know who she is. You had to have seen her around with me before," he accuses.

"It's not like I stalk all my students, Leo," she laughed lightly. "I have been paying attention to her, but she's not the top of my priorities."

"I have a name," Penny whispered shyly. She felt awkward and uncomfortable in a room full of strangers all talking about her, when she had no idea what they were saying.

"Forgive us, Penny. We're all very shocked at the moment," Steven told her. "So, now that we know about how you two met, when did you find out about who Penny was, Leo?"

"Tonight," he shrugged. "I went over for dinner and the two of them were just _there. _It was weird. They looked exactly like they did in the Announcers and they still had that kind of glow all of the fallen angels have. I . . . I didn't know what to think."

"I have noticed that," Penny admitted. All eyes turned to her in confusion, including Leo's. "The glow. I just thought it was because they were healthy or something." Some people laugh at that while others murmur to themselves.

"Did they look happy?" Shelby asked, talking for the first time. Everybody went silent at that. They all were curious.

"More than happy," Penny answered for her boyfriend, feeling it was in her territory. "They're . . . they're just so perfectly in love. Like nothing could go wrong as long as they have each other. It's kind of sickeningly beautiful," she grins. Although having her parents being super affectionate can be nauseating for her, she knows it's something rare and wonderful.

Shelby just smiled back at her, satisfied, then looks at her husband. They shared a look of nostalgia, remembering their best friend, before sinking back into the conversation. "Okay," Francesca nodded. "What did you do next?"

"Well, we finished dinner and then we went up to Penn's room to talk. She knew something was wrong. I mean, it's kind of hard to hide your emotions when the two most famous former angels are sitting across from you eating chicken." Everybody laughed at that, finally warming up to the situation. "And so I told her."

"Everything?"

"No, I thought you would be better at that."

"He just told me that he was Nephilim, and that my parents used to be angels. Except I'm still not sure if I'm dreaming or not," Penny shaked her head. It was all so surreal to her.

"Well," Francesca said, pursing her lips. "I think that's all you need to know."

"WHAT?" The whole room collectively replied. Even Steven seemed upset by this notion.

"Don't look at me like that. Lucinda and Daniel are meant to live mortal lives now, and having their daughter know about their past will ruin that. We can't do that to them. They need to be happy."

"I-I won't tell them," Penny begged. "I promise. I just want to know for myself."

"I'm afraid we can't do that . . . Leo, would you mind taking Penny outside for a moment? We need to discuss a few things." After locking eyes with his teacher, Leo reluctantly led his girlfriend outside of the chaos.

Francesca paced around the room, thinking of a solution. She knew that the girl was kind and trustworthy, but she would eventually spill the secret to her parents. And that was against everything. "We can erase her memory."

"You've got to be kidding me," Arriane laughed "After all this trouble, you're going to try to pretend this whole thing never happened. And then what?"

"And then Leo and Penny can continue to date, but Leo will be aware of who she is. Problem solved."

"How does that solve the problem? That just erases it. Literally," Miles added, defending Arriane. In all honesty, he wanted Luce to learn about her past. He wanted to talk to her and pretend like they were back in school, running through Announcers together. But he knew that would never happen.

Francesca closed her eyes, wishing this whole night away. "We need to think about what's best for Penny and for her parents. I know you all want them to remember–trust me, I do too–but it will never happen. This is the way things are supposed to be."

Everybody fell quiet, thinking about that night. When Lucinda found out she was an angel, only to sacrifice it for Daniel. When they said their final goodbyes. When they first met on that bench, falling in love for the last time. It was too much to forget about.

Cam spoke up, quieter than normal. He may be a demon, but he will always care about his brother. "I know that Daniel and Luce will never remember, but having their daughter know would be a step closer. She's just like them. She has Luce's hair and Daniel's eyes. She's kind like her, but reasonable like him. They're both in her. And having the chance to talk with her is like having a chance to talk with _them. _It won't be the same, but it will be better than nothing." Nobody could argue with that, not even Francesca.

"So? Are we gonna tell her?" Annabelle asked, excitedly, after a minute of silence.

Francesca took a deep breath and looked around the room. The eager faces of Arriane and Annabelle. The sad looks in Roland and Cam's eyes. Steven's hopeful grin. The way that Shelby and Miles held onto each other, as if they were holding on to their last thread of their lost friend.

She let out a deep breath, smiled, then opened the door. "Penny, we'd like to tell you a story."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this chapter is kind of stupid. I had to have an explanation chapter eventually, and this is it. It's basically a recap of what happened in Rapture. Nothing much happens. Sorry! Next chapter will be much more interesting :) **

* * *

"A long time ago, before the Earth was born, the Throne created Heaven. And he made angles along with him. Arriane, Roland, Cam, Annabelle, Stephen and I were all among them. And so were your parents," Francesca started, sitting across from Penny. Penny was leaning on her knees with Leo's arm wrapped around her. The other fallen angels and Nephilim were circling around them, listening to the story they knew all too well.

"The Throne made us to adore him, to love him. But after a while, your mother discovered how to love someone else."

"With my father? With Daniel?" Penny asked. She was predicting what anyone would suspect, but she could never have been more wrong.

Francesca took a deep breath and sighed, "No. With another angel, Lucifer. They were next to each other rank-wise. And Lucifer and her fell in love." Everybody in the room looked a little sad, remembering that Daniel was not Luce's first love. "It was new. Nobody had ever loved anybody except the Throne. And Lucifer planned to take over, to be free, with Lucinda by his side. And so they made us choose. Lucifer or the Throne."

"Like good or evil, right? I mean, everybody knows Lucifer is evil," Penny shrugged. Her parents, who have always been half-heartedly religious, taught her that much.

"It's a little more complicated then that. The human adaptations of the stories portray Lucifer as evil, but he truly isn't. He just believed in different things," Francesca said. She tried not to make judgements. After all, she was married to one of those "evil" demons. "But they made us choose. By then, Daniel and Lucinda had met. Lucinda realized that she didn't truly love Lucifer, but Daniel; that Lucifer just wanted power. And during roll call, when it came to Daniel, he wouldn't choose. He chose love instead. He chose Lucinda."

Penny looked up at Francesca and smiled. She could picture it perfectly. Her father stepping up. The Throne asking him to side with him or Lucifer. Daniel looking through the crowd at Lucinda, her raven hair twirling down her back, hanging against her soft, feathery wings. Smiling at her and then professing his love and his choice. It was a beautiful picture.

"But the Throne wouldn't have it. He damned your parents, angered by Daniel and Luce's choice. He declared that Lucinda would become mortal and have to die and die again, only reaching the age of 17. Daniel would remain an angel and have to watch her over thousands of years. And they would never be able to be together."

Cam stood up and walked over to the window. He looked out and remembered his brother. The way they were inseparable in the beginning, but then pulled a part. He has never regretted his choices so much. He would give anything to speak to him again.

"So," Penny said after a minute of silence. "If they were cursed, how did they break it?" Although the idea of her mother dying over and over again was unnerving, she found the story easy to accept, as if she'd known it all along.

"Well, that's a long story. There was a battle and a search and another Fall and only nine days," Arriane rolled her eyes. "We'll save that for another time, mini-Luce!" They were not about to delve into the confusing events of Luce's last life, especially not the search for the relics.

Francesca sighed at her interruption, but smiled none the less. "Basically, there was a loophole that allowed Luce to break the curse. Once she figured out who she really was-an angel-she was able to save the world, really. And her fate. The Throne awarded her with the chance at a mortal life with Daniel. And they accepted, as you've probably realized."

"Wait-they just accepted? I mean, didn't she just find out she was an angel? How could she give it up like that?" Penny asked, perplexed.

"Because she just found out she was an angel, she didn't know what she was losing. But she didn't care. And neither did Daniel. Their love was that strong," Francesca smiled

"But what if they never found each other in this life?"

"He would always find her," Cam whispered from the windowsill. "That's what he used to say. That he would find her. Always."

A tear rolled down Shelby's cheek and Miles squeezed her hand affectionately. Arriane and Annabelle shared a sad smile. Francesca and Steven were holding onto each other. Roland was smiling to himself and Cam was staring longingly out the window. "Always," Arriane murmured.

"That's so," Penny breathed. "Magical . . . He had so much faith in their love that he'd find her in a life where he doesn't remember anythings. It's just incredible." Penny's always appreciated how well her parent's relationship was, but she never imagined how deep their love ran. It made her smile.

"It was. And it is," Francesca said. "That's why we have all stayed away from you and from the truth. We don't want to ruin that for them. Telling them all of this would only make things complicated. And love should be simple."

"And the Throne didn't want us to interfere," Steven added.

"Yes, but we could have told you sooner. I'm sorry we didn't. It's just . . . it's hard for us to remember," Francesca sniffed. "I'm glad you know now. I think you deserve to know."

"Thank you for telling me! I, I mean, I can tell it's hard for you to talk about. But I'm glad I know. It's opened my eyes," Penny laughs at the cliché statement. But it was true. She felt renewed.

"Weeeeell, now that the story is over, I'm taking baby Grigori out for some girl time!" Arriane giggled, hopping up from her seat and grabbing Penny with her. Leo walked over to her before she could go and took her aside.

"Are you okay?" he asked. It had to be a lot to take in.

"Yeah. And I'm glad you told me," she grinned. "I love you, Leo."

He leaned over and kissed her, his soft hands cupping her face. The kiss was warm and gentle, slow and simple. "I love you, too." They kissed for a minute longer before Arriane snatched Penny out the door, on their way to a wild adventure.

"So where are we going?"

"Announcers!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Huh?" Penny questioned. Arriane was towing her across the parking lot, although the only car there was Penny's. And Leo had the keys. "And how are we going to get to these Announcers, or whatever? Leo has my keys!"

"Oh, honey!" Arriane laughed, tossing her head back. "You still haven't caught on, have you?" She rolled her shoulders back and released two dazzling white wings, sprouting out in wide arcs. Penny staggered back, her mouth agape, her eyes squinted. Arriane shook her shoulders a few times, stretching her wings, while Penny steadied her breathing.

"Oh. My. God." Penny's voice was barely a whisper. Despite the fact that all night's she had been hearing about fallen angels, she still couldn't get over the fact that it was real. And a teenage girl with shimmering wings was definitely proof. "You-we're _flying?_"

"Ha, no," Arriane shook her head, still giggling. She tucked her wings neatly away. "That was just to get you to face the reality. I know it's a lot, but your mom could handle it, so so can you."

"What do you mean, she could handle it?" Penny asked, still trying to fit all the pieces together. Her mind was a mess.

"I mean, when Daniel told her all of this in her last life, she got through it. Yeah, she thought he was crazy for a little bit, but she eventually accepted it. And you will, too," Arriane shrugged.

"What was her last life like?" Penny asked, curious.

"You'll find out soon. But I'd like to start a little farther back, first!" Arriane scanned the parking lot before setting her eyes on Penny's car's shadow. She snatched it up in her hands, wet and slimy.

"What do you mean? And what is that?!" Penny gasped, awed by the fact that Arriane was _holding _a _shadow! _"I thought we were going to the Announcers."

"We are," the angel smiled.

"But . . ."

"This," Arriane said, holding up the shadow, now stretched into a clear doorway, "Is an Announcer. It's a little complicated, but it basically just holds memories and moments from the past. And since you still seem a bit, I don't know, disbelieving of our story, I thought I'd show you!"

"I am _not_ disbelieving," Penny said, crossing her arms. She thought of the long night she'd had, the crazy stories, and sighed. She wanted to believe it, and she thought she did. But deep doubt she couldn't really _imagine _it was true.

"Stop lying, Grigori, and get inside." Arriane stepped halfway through the Announcer, her body embracing the cool chill she was so familiar with.

"WAIT!" Arriane turned her head around, annoyed. Penny looked, too, in the direction of the Nephilim Lodge. Shelby was jogging towards them, her blonde hair swinging behind her. "I want to come!"

"You've had more time in the Announcers than any Nephilim should be allowed," Arriane sighed. Although she wanted to bring the girl along, it just wasn't right. After Shelby and Miles had chased through the Announcers after Luce, it was agreed they should never be allowed back in. No matter what. Shelby stared Arriane down. "But you know I'm not one for following rules!" She laughed then submerged herself completely in the darkness.

Penny, unsure, stuck her finger out and touched the shadow. It was cold and wet and uncomfortable. She reeled back in disgust. "It's not that bad once you do it a few times," Shelby said from behind her. Looking at Penny was like looking at Luce to Shelby, and she did everything she could not to cry. "Come on!" Shelby jumped inside the announcer.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Penny hurled herself into the shadow, closing her eyes tight. The chill passed quickly, and soon she was on her hands and knees on the other side. Arriane was looking around in excitement while Shelby brushed off her jeans. Penny stood up and looked around at the unfamiliar place. "Where are we?" she asked. Lush fields stretched for miles under a clear blue sky. Small cottages were scattered around them, along with lots of people. Kids ran across the grass, dressed in foreign clothes. Women carried buckets of water, smiling happily. The smell of soup filled the air.

"Welcome to Geneva, Switzerland, 1844!"

* * *

**Sorry this chapter's so short, but I thought this was a good place to stop. Hope you guys are enjoying it! Please let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Switzerland? And 1884? How is this possible?" Penny screamed, making Arriane step back to avoid the blow.

"Calm down, Grigori. Like I told you, the Announcers capture memories. We're in one of them right now. It just happens to be in Switzerland in 1884."

"This is . . . two lifetimes before Milan, right?" Shelby asked, remembering when Luce was a nurse in World War 1.

"Exactly, Shelbs," Arriane smiled, nudging her in the side, before turning to Penny. "Are you starting to believe a little bit more?"

"Uh huh," Penny mumbled. She looked around the area, wide-eyed and shocked. The village was something out of a history book with its home-made houses and odd-looking clothes. Penny looked down at her own outfit and felt embarrassed and out of place. Arriane followed her gaze and opened her mouth in an, "Oh!"

"We should get you changed!" Arriane halled the girls over to a small hut off to the side. The house is completely dark and empty, but Arriane didn't care. She rummaged through the closet until she found a few pieces of clothes that would fit them. A long skirt and blouse for Penny and a billowing dress for Shelby. They quickly changed while Arriane kept looking, finally settling on a knee-length dress. She slipped into and handed a bonnet over to each of the girls. "Looking lovely, ladies," she giggled before striding out of the house.

"Isn't that stealing?" Penny asked, following after her nervously. The clothes felt itchy on her and she desperately wanted to change back.

"You're so silly, sometimes," Arriange said. "That's mine and 'Bell's house. We're probably off with Roland around now."

"Wait, you guys were there throughout all the lives, too?" Penny asked. She knew Daniel was, but why would a bunch of others stick around to watch the same love story unfold?

"Of course! Daniel's our friend, you know. Except it's not like we just stalked them all day. We did other stuff!"

They were heading over to the center of their village, bits of conversations flowing into their ears. They were speaking German and Penny could understand it! "Arriane," Penny gasped. "I can understand them!" She passed a few kids playing a game and singing a song about dancing. A few women were gossipping about a girl named Marie and a couple of men were laughing about politics.

"Yeah, that's one of the perks of being in an Announcer. You kind of just adjust to the surroundings. Pretty cool, right?" Arriane was leading them past the village center and towards the open fields, were farmers worked and children played.

"Yeah . . ." The three trudged through the village into the field. Arriane stopped and squinted her eyes, looking for something. "THERE!" she exclaimed before taking off, running.

Shelby laughed and dashed after her, although she wasn't as fast as she used to be. After hesitating, Penny followed, racing after them towards what looked like a small river. Arriane got there first and peeked her heads through the trees surrounding it. She jumped up in excitement, then placed a hand on her lip, making sure the others keep quiet.

When Penny reached the spot, she took a seat on the ground beside Arriane. She gestured excitedly towards the right. Penny and Shelby both flipped their heads that way and smiled at the sight: Lucinda and Daniel were standing in the water, close together, young and immortal. Daniel's hands were wrapped around Luce's tiny waist, keeping her steady in the current. Luce's hands hung limply on his shoulders. Daniel was still wearing long pants, while Luce was still in her dress. They giggled to themselves, smiling as the cool water splashed their bodies.

Penny was startled, but awed, by the scene. There were her parents. _Her parents. _Young and in love in the 1800's. Everything that Francesca told her suddenly was real and beautiful and unbelievable. But she believed it anyway.

"I love you, one," Daniel whispered, kissing her hand. Luce blushed. "I love you, two." His lips grazed her shoulder. "I love you, three" He kissed her neck gently and Lucinda tipped her head back. "I love you, four." He softly kissed each eyelid and Lucinda smiled. "And, I love you, five." He slowly inched his way down to her lips and kissed them slowly, at first. He moved his hands into her hair and she grabbed desperately onto his chest.

"Daniel," she whispered, her heart pounding.

"Oh, no," Arriane said, snatching Penny out of view. "I didn't realize they were this far along yet. We should go."

"What do you mean 'this far along?' I want to see what happens!"

"Penny, I don't think you do." Penny pushed out of Arriane's grip and peered over the side, staring at her parents.

They were still kissing, more passionately now. "Luciana," Daniel breathed against her chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"What?" she gasped, pulling away from him in confusion. When he didn't say anything she pulled him back against her, anxious to feel his mouth against hers.

"What's happening?" Penny asked, even though she knew what was coming. She should have realized this is why Arriane didn't want her to see. Shelby looked away, not wanting to watch the horrible death she'd seen before. Even Arriane turned to the side, giving Penny some space.

"I love you, Luciana," Daniel said as he kissed her. "I'll wait for you, I will. I'll find you again."

Luciana finally seemed to understand what was going on, her eyes widening as she sucked in. With her last second of life she breathed the word against his lips, a question: "Always?"

A tower of flames was built around her, locking her in an inevitable end, despite the water. Daniel held onto her as best as he could, withstanding the burn. It didn't even hurt him physically anymore. But the emotional pain it brought was unbearable. Penny watched, wide-eyed as her mother died for probably the millionth time, the flames fading away and leaving nothing but air. Clear air as if nothing had happened.

Daniel collapsed onto the water, burying his face in it and drowning himself. But it wouldn't work. Only a starshot could bring his end. He stayed underwater until he couldn't tell his tears from the river, then came up and breathed in an unneeded breath. "Lucinda, Lucinda!" he sobbed, banging his head against the riverbed.

Penny walked forward a little, wanting a better look. Tears stung her eyes and her heart wouldn't slow down even if she had wanted it to. "Penn!" Arriane whispered. She couldn't let Penny talk to Daniel. That would be disastrous to time.

Daniel kept hitting his head until movement caught the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw a small face peeking through the trees. Penny gasped and scooted backwards, but she had been seen. It was too late now. "Who's there? Cam?" Arriane smacked herself on the head and stood up, covering for Penny.

"No, it's me," Arriane shrugged, walking over towards him. "I'm sorry, Daniel. I know you thought this lifetime would be better."

Daniel looked up at her, red-eyed, and then looked back towards the trees. "It wasn't you. It was somebody else. Who's with you?"

"No one," Arriane lied, sitting down in front of him.

"Stop lying, Arriane. Not now, okay! Not right after _that,_" he sighed. "I thought she might live longer. I thought . . . everything was going so well. We could touch, we could kiss. Her eighteenth birthday was in eight days, Ari._ Eight days. _We've never gotten this close before. I thought, maybe . . "

"I know, Daniel. I know and I'm so sorry. But we'll find a way. Soon, I promise," Arriane offered, knowing that in only a century this would prove true. He would get his happy ending eventually.

Daniel swallowed hard, closing his eyes. "Who's your friend?" Penny was looking through the trees again, thinking she had gotten in the clear.

"Oh, God, Penny, can you do anything right?" Arriane rolled her eyes and gestured for Penny to follow. Shelby stayed back, not wanting to interfere. Penny, embarrassed, stepped out from the trees, but keeps her distance. "Daniel, this is Penny. She's, uh, visiting."

"Hello," Daniel said warily, not really looking at her. "This isn't a good time for visitors, though. So if I could just be alo-" Daniel stopped, looking up and meeting Penny's eyes. Hers widened while his shrunk, his brow furrowing. "Do I know you?"

Arriane shot a look at Penny, and she got the message. "No. No, you don't know me," she rushed. Her head was hurting and she felt like she would pass out any moment.

"Sorry," Daniel shook his head, looking away. "You just look like someone I kno-knew." Arriane flashed him a sympathetic look. "You have her hair and her cheeks and her smile." Daniel's eyes widened with sudden understanding and he whipped his head towards Arriane. "You're from the future?"

Arriane grabbed her head and squeezed her nose. "Possibly."

Daniel looked to Penn, who had moved against the trees out of fright. She knew she was screwing this up, but she couldn't help but want to learn more about what her dad was like. Daniel studied her again, finally settling on her subtly violet eyes. Angel eyes. "Is that?"

Arriane closed her eyes and breathed in. "Yes."

* * *

**DSKLAGJWIOFSLFJOAGJAWI Okay so that got really intense really fast. Sorry for the cliché river scene...I'm not good with romance. But anyways, next chapter, this Daniel will find out a little bit about his future :) Stay tuned!**


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel's face filled with joy, his sorrow for Luciana gone for the moment. "But how is that possible? She's so old! Lucinda has to be, what? Twenty-four? Older?" Daniel questioned excitedly, his head pounding. "When does it happen? How soon? How do we do it?"

"Sloooooowww down, Daniel," Arriane said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I'm afraid I really can't tell you much about the future. It could kind of ruin everything."

Daniel nodded, defeated. "I know. I just-I can't believe this. We have a _daughter!" _Penny blushed, feeling awkward and uncomfortable, yet filled with anxiety. "But, how does she know about this? Did we tell her about everything? I mean, why aren't Luce and I showing her the past?"

Arriane debated whether she could answer these questions. Technically, the answers didn't reveal much about Daniel's future. Her sympathy for Daniel made the decision for her and she answered. Only she tweaked the story a bit, "Well, it's very confusing. But Luce had her when she was younger. It was an . . . _accident._ That lifetime is much like this one; you guys could touch and kiss. But Luce still died. Penny, miraculously, stayed alive. " Penny looked at her, confused, but finally understood: Arriane couldn't tell Daniel the truth. It would only make him anticipate her final lifetime, and it would ruin everything. But Penny had to agree the lie was perfect, and could almost pass for the truth. Penny stepped forward and smiled down at her father, who was still submerged in the water. It was kind of incredible that she was talking to her seventeen year old father in 1884. "And you didn't want to show her the past because it's still too painful. I, of course, volunteered!"

"But if she's seventeen now, that means the next Luce has already come around?" Daniel asked. He wondered whether his daughter met another version of Luce. Whether she wondered why her father never aged. Whether she knew about who he was from the start, or if she just now learned.

Arriane hadn't thought this aspect through yet, but easily made it fit into the story. "Yes, that's true. You're now with that Luce, and Penny knows all about it. But she doesn't talk to her. We're afraid that might mess things up further."

"And she's mortal?"

"Nephilim. Since Luce is still technically mortal while she's cursed." Arriane raised her eyebrows, a silent question, and Daniel nodded. She turned on her heels and walked away, back towards Shelby. They deserved some time alone.

Daniel tilted his head upwards and studied Penny. Her long, black, curling her. Her slightly red lips. Her gray and violet eyes, just like his. Her thin body, her long arms, her tiny nose. Penny smiled down at him, kind of dizzily. It was weird seeing her father like this, so angelic, so young and different. So utterly wrecked by the tragedy of his curse. "Hi," she whispered, biting her lips.

"Hi," Daniel grinned, reaching out his fingers. "Do you like to swim?"

"Yeah," Penny answered, slipping out of her shoes. "You––in the future, I guess––um, take me swimming all the time." Both her parents usually take her swimming, but she quickly adjusted to make her words fit Arriane's cover story.

"I do?" Daniel asked, extending his hand for Penny. She slowly slid her feet into the cool water, gliding in carefully.

"Yeah. Every weekend. Except, um, not anymore since Lucinda is around again. You spend your time with her now." Penny hoped that was what Daniel would do. She's not really sure if Daniel takes all his time with Lucinda in each life, or if he keeps his distance to prolong her days.

"I'm sorry." Penny was now standing in the river, facing Daniel. She shivered from the cold, but loved the feel of the water nonetheless.

"It's okay. I understand," Penny nodded, although she didn't. She would never, no matter how many lifetimes Arriane showed her, understand what her parents went through. "You want to spend as much time with her before she goes."

"Yes." Daniel wandered in a slow circle in the river. Penny did the same, getting a feel for the current. "Is it strange?"

"Is what strange?"

"Having me as a dad. I mean, I'm an angel. I don't age. Your mother just keeps . . . reincarnating. And now you've traveled back in time to meet a different version of myself. Isn't it all a bit weird?" Daniel asked, swimming around.

"Yeah," Penny asked, tears forming in her eyes. Even though what Daniel was describing was nothing like her real life, the thought of it all made her want to cry. The enormity of this situation was finally weighing down on her, and she felt like she could break at any moment. "But it's more hard than strange. It's hard to watch you go through all that pain." Penny finally let the tears escape, the past day too much to take. She burst into a fit of whimpering sobs and Daniel slowly moved towards her.

Hesitantly, Daniel eased his arms around her as she wept. Penny was used to the way it felt when he hugged her, but for Daniel it was completely new. He let his arms slowly encircle her, wrapped them gently around her shoulders. Penny did the same, holding onto her father's waist and crying into his warm chest. If Daniel didn't think too hard, it was like holding Lucinda.

"Can you tell me something?" she whispered. Daniel nodded. "Why did you keep searching? Why didn't you just give up?"

Daniel pulled away slightly and looked into Penny's lavender eyes. "When you love someone, there's no limit. It doesn't matter if I have to go on for millenia, waiting for Lucinda. I'll always do it because I love her. And I want her to love me, too. I know she does, somewhere deep inside of her. She remembers what it felt like that first time. But in each lifetime, we rarely get that far. And until I do––until she can love me back––I won't stop searching." Penny pulled him back into her embrace, smiling and crying at the same time. Her heart hammered in her chest. She didn't know what to say anymore. "You should go," Daniel said suddenly.

"What?"

"I mean, you should get back. To the present. I'm sure that Daniel needs you more than I do right now," he half-laughed.

"Oh . . . yeah." Penny pulled back and pushed herself out of the river, ringing her skirt out. She turned away and walked towards the trees, where she could just make out Arriane and Shelby's silhouettes. "Thank you," Penny gasped, turning around slightly.

"For what?"

"For showing me how strong love is. And how far you're willing to go for it." Penny sniffed then wiped her eyes. Daniel just shrugged.

"It's what I want to do."


	8. Chapter 8

"Why not?" Penny complained, aggravated, as she trudged behind Arriane and Shelby. After meeting this life's Daniel, she was still a bit shaken up. Her emotions were a mess. Her mind was racing. But that didn't stop her from wanting more.

"Because I don't think it'd be good for you," Arriane shrugged, passing through the tiny village again. She smiled and waved at some villagers, who recognized her-well her from the past-and was maneuvering her way back to the hut where they stashed their clothes.

"But I want to know what it was like when she knew!" Penny pleaded. She had asked Arriane if they could go see Luce's last life, the one where everything changed. Knowing how complicated that lifetime was, Arriane immediately refused. "When she was actually aware of what was going on."

Shelby turned around and faced Penny, stopping in her tracks. "Trust me, you don't want to get sucked into this whole 'Announcers' business. The more you travel, the more you'll want to do it," Shelby warns, as if she's talking about doing drugs. "Miles still does it way too much than he should."

"Miles is traveling?" Arriane flew around, shocked.

"Not much. He just likes to show off sometimes. Not a lot of Nephilim are good at it," Shelby smiled.

"Yeah, and he's only good at it because most Nephilim don't have fallen angels for friends," Arriane snapped jokingly. "Where does he even travel to?"

"Ummm...nowhere."

Penny and Arriane both gave her a weird look before deciding they didn't want to know. "All I'm saying is I want to just see what it was like when they met, or when she found out, or _something!" _Penny begged. They were now at the door of the house. The three girls hustled inside, quickly grabbing their clothes and changing again. "How is that going to do any permanent damage? Besides, I couldn't travel alone even if I wanted to. I'm not Nephilim."

"True, but you could still learn. Annnyyyyways, NO!" Arriane shimmied into her jeans, then began searching for an Announcer. She stretched it open into a black abyss, then gestured for them to head it. "Off we go!"

"Arriane."

"Penny."

"Pleasseeeee. I just want to see one moment from their past life! One eensy, teensy moment!" Arriane bit her lip and looked at Shelby, contemplating the idea silently. Shelby thought about how many perfect moments there were to share; how could she let Penny miss out on any of them? She subtly nodded and Arriane grabbed her head in her hands.

"FINNNNEE! Get in there, kid." Despite her annoyed tone, excitement was seeping through Arriane's veins. The three piled into the announcer, consumed by darkness, and waited until they were jolted into another world.

Penny found herself lying on cool ground, dark and gray with dirt. She tilted her head to the left, only to find a large gray rock beside her. She nearly screamed in surprise, but managed to hold it in. Who knew what scene they were popping in on?

She pulled herself up on her elbows, squinting her eyes in the morning light. Large statues surrounded her, angels and crosses filling the area. _A cemetery? _She thought. _This is her idea of an important moment? _Arriane was standing up, carefully hiding behind a large tombstone, peeking her head above it. Shelby had just finished dusting off her pants, and was now shuffling towards Arriane. They were both watching something intently in the distance, and Penny hurried to see what.

"Ew," Shelby shuddered. "This place gives me the creeps." Penny was with her on that one.

"You didn't have to go to school here for a year," Arriane shot back.

"You went to _school_ here? _Here?" _As Penny looked around, she could make out a few large, outdated school buildings past the cemetery. The campus was silent, though, except for a few low murmurs coming from far away.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! Your mom went, too." Arriane ruffled her hair, the wind blowing it in her face. "I have to say, though, Sword & Cross Reformatory isn't anything like Shoreline. A little less . . . happy?" Shelby laughed at that, while Penny's eyes bulged out.

"Reform school? Why did my mom go to reform school?" The idea of her mother reincarnating was weird enough, but the idea of having her mother be some badass, tattooed and pierced, crazed lunatic was even weirder.

"It was actually a misunderstanding. Her friend died in a mysterious fire, and everybody thought she killed him."

"Oh."

"Yeah. But they still shipped her off here. The rest of the group and I all came here hoping to avoid Luce, this time. Not even Daniel assumed she could wind up in a school of freaks." Arriane was squinting her eyes, trying to make something out in the distance. She sighed. Obviously, whatever she wanted to happen wasn't happening yet.

"Why would he avoid her?" Penny thought Daniel always tried to find Luce. Did he seriously give up at one time?

"He wanted to save her life," Shelby answered. "But Luce always ended up finding him, wherever he hid. They couldn't escape the curse."

"Oh," Penny repeated. "What are we looking at, anyway? Do Daniel and Luce just happen to hang out in graveyards?" She realized belatedly that she had called her parents by their first names. The story was too confusing not to.

Arriane laughed, while Shelby looked at her curiously. She wanted to know the answer as well. Penny guessed that Shelby had never attended Sword & Cross, since she seemed just as intrigued. "No. When you get detention here, you're on graveyard duty. Not fun." Arriane peeked over the tomb again, this time jumping up in excitement. "OKAY! This is it. Let's get a little closer though. This is something you don't want to miss."

Arriane carefully guided them through the cemetery, making sure to avoid the forms lingering in the near distance. Once they found a good view, the settled in behind a statue and watched carefully, not talking much. Penny could make out Cam, Roland, Arriane, Luce and Daniel in the graveyard, all cleaning at the statues furiously. Arriane was helping Luce, who was sneaking glances in Cam's direction. Why was she looking at Cam? She loved _Daniel. _Another girl was with them, too, growling angrily. Shelby caught sight of her and nearly cried, thinking of the friend they had lost so long ago. "Who's that?" Penny whispered.

"Um. That's Molly." Arriane saw her, too, and bit her lip to avoid tearing up. "She . . . died, saving your parents. Her and another girl Gabbe."

"Why would they do that?"

"They really cared about them. And being immortal gets kinda old, you know? They were happy to sacrifice their lives for them," Arriane said sadly. In order to change the depressing subject, Arriane laughed at her past self. "Don't I look so cute? Your mom gave me a haircut. Wasn't it just adorable?"

"Definitely," Penny giggled, watching the other Arriane make small talk with Lucinda. She was cleaning, uncomfortably, the base of the statue, not really sure what she was doing. She was dressed in all black and her dark curls hung loosely behind her. She tilted her head, again, towards Cam, and smiled when he met her gaze. "Why is she looking at him?" Penny wondered again, this time aloud.

"Let's just say that Cam was trying to test the curse a little bit," Arriane answered awkwardly. "He flirted with Luce a lot. They even kissed once." Penny made a disgusted face. "It was all really an attempt at revenge on Daniel for making us going through this all these years. Luckily, Luce recognized him for the demon he is after a while." Even though she was insulting Cam, she was smiling at the thought of him.

"Good. I don't think Cam would be a great dad." They all laughed at that, thinking about how funny that would be. Penny reseated herself in a more comfortable position after Arriane told her that, "this is it." She watched, anxious, at the statue Luce was scrubbing at slowly startled to topple over. Luce screamed, her high pitched, familiar voice cutting through the cool, autumn air. Shelby and Penny both shuddered.

They watched as Daniel quickly ra-no, _flew-_over to where Luce was, grabbing her out from under the statue's shadowed. It tumbled down, Luce and Daniel just barely missing it's powerful _thump_. They were holding onto each other tightly, rolled up beside the fallen state. Luce was looking at him in awe and wonder, mystified by her savior. Arriane squealed as she watched the scene again, probably enjoying this more now that the danger factor was gone.

"Isn't that just so romantic?" she squealed. Penny was still watching as they awkwardly tore apart from each other, Luce quickly thanking him, and Daniel watching her longingly. Shelby was smiling at the scene, thinking of miles saving her when they were in the Announcers. "It's so cute because at this point, they've barely spoken a word to each other. And he still saved her! She's so confused by it. Like, what stranger saves you from a falling angel statue? Only Daniel!"

"That is pretty amazing," Penny agreed, turning away from the scene. She couldn't help but feel a little sorrow for her father. The way he was looking at Luce like he wanted her more than anything. And she didn't even realize. It was all too much. "Can we go back now?"

"Um, yeah." Both Arriane and Shelby were shocked that she hadn't asked to vist just one more lifetime.

Arriane quickly drew up an Announcer and the three shuffled back in. They landed, this time not falling, back in the parking lot at Shoreline. Penny quickly rushed back to the lodge, wanting to talk to Leo so badly. She felt like she was about to cry at any moment, the heaviness of the night finally taking it's toll. All the happy memories somehow made her want to sob.

"Leo," she called, opening the door. The group was scattered about, talking to themselves. Leo quickly turned around, stopping his conversation with Miles, and rushed towards Penny. He saw the broken expression on her face and pulled her to his chest. She cried silently into him. "Leo, I . . I can't believe all this. It's real. I saw it. They're so in love and it's so beautifully tragic," she whimpered.

"I know," Leo said, running his hands through her hair. "Are you okay? Did you see something bad?"

Penny just nodded, unable to talk anymore. "I'm sorry, Penny. But, I-" he was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing, deep in Penny's pocket. She looked at Leo apologetically and flipped open her cellphone. "Hello?" Her mom's voiced filled the other line.


	9. Chapter 9

"Penny? Honey, where are you? You had forgotten your bag, so I was going to come drop it off. When I got to Sam's house, she said you weren't there. Are you okay?" her mom asked, worried. Penny squeezed her eyes shut, cringing at her terrible lie. She shouldn't texted Sam to cover for her. She quickly thought of another cover story, thought it wasn't very good.

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine." It was as if the whole room inhaled when she said _mom. _Heads snapped towards her, all hoping to hear a little bit of Luce's familiar, older voice. "I'm not at Sam's, though. You must of heard me wrong. I'm at . . . _Cam's_. Cam," she looked towards the angel, unsure of his last name. He mouthed "Briel," and she quickly repeated the name to her mother. "He's friends with Leo. Yes, his parents are there. And no, I'm not staying the night at his house," Penny responded before her mother could even ask. She knew the routine all too well.

"Who's house are you sleeping over at?" Her mom asked, obviously confused, but buying the lie. Good.

"Uh . . Arriane?" she said, like it was a question. Arriane nudged her in the side in approval, laughing silently. "She's a friend from Shoreline."

"Oh!" Lucinda gasped, obviously pleased. "Arriane Alter, right? I think I might've met her before." Penny's eyes shot out at that and she quickly turned towards Francesca, who was also listening in.

She hugged the phone to her chest and whispered, "How does she know your name?" Francesca didn't reply, just shot a worried look to Steven. "Um, no, mom, I don't think so. I might've mentioned her before. We're pretty close," Penny said into the phone.

"Okay, well do you want me to drop off your bag? Where does she live?"

"No, mom, it's fine. I can borrow some of her stuff. Thanks though," Penny murmured, trying to end the conversation quickly but desperately failing.

"Of course," Lucinda smiled. "Well, have fun. I'll talk to you tomorrow! Love you, Penn."

"Love you too," Penny whispered before hanging up the phone. She quickly tucked it away in her pocket before meeting the eyes of the curious angel. "Well. That was weird."

"Why didn't she recognize my name?" Cam wondered to himself, a little disappointed. Francesca shot him a death glare and he backed away, smiling a devilish grin.

"I'm not sure what just happened," she said, perplexed. "I don't understand how she could even be familiar with the name, let alone _guess it!" _Francesca was pacing the floor, anxious and worried about what this could mean.

Annabel stood up and shrugged, "I mean it's not that weird. They did name their daughter after Luce's old friend, right? So somewhere deep down they must remember. At least a little bit."

"I was named after who?" Penny blurted out.

"Pennyweather Van Syckle Lockwood," Arriane squinted. "Luce's old friend back at Bored & Cross. She died in the battle, though."

"Oh," Penny whispered, unsure of what to say. "Then I guess what Annabel said makes sense, right?"

"No, it doesn't," Steven mused. "In all of her past lives, she's never remembered a single detail, like a name or a place or anything. It doesn't make sense that in this life, her _mortal _life, she not only recognizes, but _knows_ a full name."

"Miles?" Arriane asked, looking towards the Nephilim lurking by the window. "Can you come here for a sec?" He nodded and then followed Arriane over to the corner, where they whispered quietly amont themselves. Penny turned to Leo, fearful, her mind racing. "What do you think this means?"

"I . . . I don't know," Leo sighed. He bit his lip, thinking hard, but only looked towards Francesca again for some answers. She just shook her head in frustration. "Is there anyway we could ask them things? See if they know anything at all?"

"No, we're not aloud to interfere. That was one of the terms of their mortal lives." She pursed her lips. "We can't get into trouble with the Throne over something like this."

"But it's Luce and Daniel," Shelby argued. Like everybody, Shelby only wished she could talk to Luce again.

"Still," Francesca said firmly, looking at Shelby like she was her student again, although the Nephilim was much older in appearance.

Arriane dragged Miles back to the group, all with knitted eyebrows and perplexed frowns, smiling happily. "IIIII haaaad an ideeeeea!" she sang. "Would you do the honors, Mr. Fisher?" Miles grinned at the formality, then stepped forward. It was like he was doing a class presentation.

"Everybody remembers Thanksgiving, right? I mean _the_ Thanksgiving?" Everybody in the room nodded except for Leo and Penny, who both just kind of went along with it. No time to bother with questions now. "Well, then you probably remember the little stunt I pulled."

"When you reflected Luce?" Roland wondered.

"Exactly. So that Cam would shoot her reflection instead of the real Luce."

"Okay, so how does this help us?" Francesca asked, not understanding.

Cam, however, was quicker to pick up on the idea. "And the reflection was just like Luce. She spoke like her and acted like her and really _was _her." He smiled in approval. Annabel's eyes lit up as she finally got it, just before Steven and Roland caught on. Francesca, Leo, and Penny were the only ones left in the dark.

"Wow, Francesca's slow today," Cam smirked cockily. She shot him a death glare.

"I . . I don't get it. What does reflect mean?" Penny murmured.

"That's Miles's power. He can make duplicates of people," Shelby grinned. She felt lucky to have such a "gifted" Nephilim for a husband.

"And if he were to duplicate Luce right now, we would be able to ask her questions and find out what she knows. See if we should be worried right now." Miles hoped his proposition would get passed by the group of angels. Luckily, most seemed onboard with the idea. Francesca, however, was still pursing her lips and concentrating hard.

"That seems like a great idea!" Steven nodded.

"No," Francesca objected.

"Why not?"

"We can't interfere. This, though not directly, is a huge interference. I . . . I can't risk it."

"What's the worst thing that could happen, Frankie?" Steven rolled his eyes. "The Throne can't do anything to us for talking to a projection!"

"I know, but . . ."

"But what?"

"But I can't take the chance. If you want to do it, then do it without me." She quickly grabbed her bag and headed out the door, back to her and Steven's small apartment upstairs. Steven leaned against the window and ran a hand through his hair. The air was thick and silent, nobody knowing what to do next.

After an awkwardly long period of quiet, Penny shyly looked upwards, her purple eyes shimmering in the moonlight. "So, are we going to do it?"

The angels shared a look together and then seemed to agree on something silently. Leo looked worriedly at Penny. He took her hand and stroked it slowly, calming her down. She leaned against him, waiting to hear the decision. Steven locked eyes with Miles and then nodded, "Reflect away."


	10. Chapter 10

Penny watched in confusion as Miles closed his eyes, concentrating hard. He furrowed his brow and tried to draw an image of Luce in his mind. Considering he had only seen her when she's 17, it was considerably hard. He tried to picture his friend older face and a more mature body. Miles sighed after a second and looked towards the group. "I can't do it. I have to know what she looks like. Now, I mean," he shrugged.

"Here," Penny said, shuffling through her phone until she found a photo of her and her mom, standing on the beach together from a few years back. She handed the phone to Miles. He looked down at the picture and grinned. She looked so much the same as he remembered, yet so much different. Happier. In love.

He closed his eyes again and drew up the image in his mind then focused on reflecting Luce in front of him. After just a few moments of concentration, a shadowy figure appeared in the room. The figure slowly morphed into the familiar shape of Lucinda Grigori. Her long black hair trailed down her back, lightly touching her ivory skin. Her gray eyes were wide in confusion. Her tall, curvy frame was covered in a the same red dress that she had worn to dinner last night. After the reflection was finished, she looked around in confusion at everybody. Penny gasped when she saw how lifelike she looked, how real.

The whole room was quiet for a moment, taking Luce in. None of them had seen her in such a long time-the Throne forbade any of them to interfere. Arriane jumped up and down in excitement. Cam smirked to himself while Roland nodded his head in approval. Annabel beamed, Steven sighed. Miles and Shelby locked hands and stared up at her with longing. Leo seemed unfazed, while Penny's mouth was open wide.

"Well that went well," Miles announced after a second of silence. The reflection turned around in a slow circle, taking everybody in. Of course, she didn't know who anybody was except for Leo and Penny, and once she set her eyes on them, she smiled.

"Penny, where are we?" she asked. Her voice was so familiar to the others that they all seemed to lean in together.

"Umm...How does this work exactly?" Penny asked, not answering her fake mother's question. She wasn't sure how to talk to the reflection.

"I'll handle this," Steven said, stepping up. "Lucinda, we'd like to ask you some questions."

The reflection raised her eyebrows, taking in Steven's unfamiliar face, then bit her lip. She started cracking her knuckles (despite Daniel's hate of it) and finally sighed. "I guess that's fine." Reflections were usually compliant.

Steven nodded and looked towards Arriane, who just shrugged dramatically. How exactly do you ask this kind of thing? "Does the name Luce Price mean anything to you?" he started, hoping that was a good question. The angels nodded in agreement.

Reflection Luce thought for moment before responding, "Yes. It sounds familiar. I don't know from where, though. Maybe an old friend?" Steven's eyes widened at her answer. How much did she know?

"What about Pennyweather Van Syckle Lockwood?"

"Yes!" Luce chimed immediately. "She was one of my friends from high school, I think. Sadly, she died in an accident. Poor girl."

Arriane cringed and stepped up beside Steven, curiosity overwhelming her. "Have you ever heard of Sword & Cross?"

Luce thought for a moment. She almost answered know, but a lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh, that's a reformatory school, right? One of my distant relatives might've gone there. Something about a fire and a boy. I'm not sure, though."

"Oh my gosh," Arriane said in disbelief. How was this happening? What did it mean?

"Do you know who I am, Luce?"

"Arriane, right?" The whole room was silent.

"And what about me?"

"I might be mistaken, but is it Steven?" Luce asked, unsure.

"Can you name everybody in this room?" If she had a perfect memory of them, this would definitely be something to worry about. Is it possible that Luce and Daniel will eventually gain their memory back?

Luce glanced around the room and nodded. "Yes. Penny, Leo, Arriane, Steven, . . . Cam? Roland. I think Annabel. Shelby? . . . And Miles!" Everybody's eyes widened in disbelief. Maybe even horror. "Was that right? Sorry, I'm not the best with names."

"That was perfect," Arriane breathed. "What now?" she asked Steven.

"I . . . I don't know. This doesn't make sense. She-she shouldn't know this! She shouldn't have bits and pieces of memories. That's not possible!"

Cam stepped forward to take matters into his own hands. "How long was the Fall?" If she didn't get one of the harder questions, maybe it was nothing to fret about.

"The Fall?" she asked, confused. Obviously Luce wouldn't know what the Fall was in her mortal life. She couldn't. "I believe nine days."

Cam inhaled sharply. "And what was the name of your first love?"

She thought for a moment. "Lucifer."

"Who did you save in World War I?"

"Daniel."

"What was your last name in Helston?"

"Biscoe."

"What did you give Daniel in Tahiti?"

"Tattoos."

"Who were you married to in China?"

"King Shang."

"That's enough!" Steven roared, angered by Cam's interrogation. "It's obvious that she remembers things! Even is she doesn't understand how, they're in her memory.

The room fell silent. Luce's reflection looked scared and confused. "Miles, we're done with her," Steven whispered. Miles willed the reflection away and pursed his lips.

"How is this possible?" Roland asked.

"I don't know." Steven ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, closing his eyes. He thought hard for a long minute. Was there any possible solutions? Any way to fix this and figure out what's going on? He couldn't find any. "Penny," he said, turning to her. "I need you to help us with this. This is very serious and the more information we have, the faster we can figure this out."

"Okay," she whispered. Leo placed her hand in his and she took a deep breath. "What do I need to do?"


	11. AN

**Hey guys! So sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days. I've just been really stuck on where to go from here. I was going to have Penny somehow summon The Throne (since she doesn't like angels so maybe they can't summon her or something) but I thought it might be stupid. Anybody have any ideas? If not, I'll probably just go with that anyways. Sorry. Running out of thoughts...leave any ideas you have in the reviews or PM! Thanks guys! Hope to have a chapter up by Saturday :D**


	12. Chapter 11

**Okay, so as I said in my A/N, I don't really know where to go from here. So, this might be a terrible idea for a chapter and I'm truly sorry. After this chapter, though, I kind of know where I'm going, so hopefully it will get better. Also, thanks to Guest "A" for an idea. Your message kind of inspired this. Sorry again but here it is:**

Penny looked at Steven, waiting. He just ran a hand through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut. What he was about to say was going to be . . . interesting. "What do I have to do?" she repeated. Leo squeezed her hand in encouragement.

Steven just walked back over to a desk in the corner and reached into one of the drawers, carefully pulling out a long, silver beam. Penny didn't know what it is, but everybody else in the room gasped at the sight of it. Arriane even backed away carefully from Steven. Whatever he was holding must be very dangerous. "I-I need you to show your parents this."

Arriane raised her eyebrows at Steven, a question. He just nodded. "If your parents understand what this is, then we will have to go to the Throne. If not, than I feel that we don't need to take further action. After all, Luce remembering some minor details may not be anything to worry about." Cam shook his head at this in disagreement. Annabel turned away. Shelby and Miles locked hands once again.

"I don't think that will prove anything," Cam argued. "The reflection just showed us all that Luce remembers, whether she realizes it or not. We need to tell the Throne."

"Cam, we can't just go around summoning the Throne whenever we want. It has to be a serious matter. Even then she might punish us," Arriane sighed. She obviously wasn't looking forward to get punished.

"This _is_ serious! And having Daniel or Luce recognize a starshot is just going to prove that again."

"What's a starshot?" Penny whispered, confused. She was still looking at the silver arrow, which seemed almost beautiful, grasped carefully between Steven's fingers. The others continued to argue while Leo carefully turned Penny towards him to explain.

"A starshot is the only weapon that can . . . kill a fallen angel." Penny's eyes widened as she looked back towards the shimmering object in confusion.

"Kill? Are you serious? Steven wants me to almost kill my parents?"

"No, no," Leo assured. "He wants you to show it to them. To see if they fear it at all. If they do, then we go to the Throne. If they don't, he thinks that the problem is minimal. Probably just some weird coincidence."

"Oh." Penny looked over to where Cam and Steven were almost fighting, the starshot the only thing standing between them. She feared that one of them would accidentally get hurt. "Stop!" she called. The two angels stopped their bickering at turned towards the girl reluctantly. "I'll do it."

"What?" Cam gasped. "You do realize that this isn't a game. One false move and you could kill them."

"I-I know," Penny stuttered. She walked over to where Steven was standing and held her hands out. "I can do this. I'll come back as soon as I can and tell you what happened." Steven smiled as he placed the arrow precariously into her hands.

"You must be very carefully, Penny. This is a dangerous weapon. There are only a few of them in the world and there's a reason why. You musn't lose this."

"I won't," she promised, curling her fingers around the smooth, silver rod.

"You can't seriously do this! She could kill somebody! Or worse, someone could find her with it," Cam complained.

"Find me? What do you mean?" Penny asked, suddenly scared.

"Nothing," Leo assured her.

"No, it's not nothing. Some people would die for a starshot. It's a powerful weapon, and if someone finds out that you have it, you could be in dangerous," Arriane added, siding with Cam. "I don't like this idea."

Penny thought it over for a moment. She could either help them by showing her parents the starshot, risk getting caught with it and possibly killed, but then have an answer to her questions. Or she could be a coward and tattle to the Throne. "I'm doing it. I'm not scared," she declared bravely. Steven sighed in relief. Cam and Arriane looked angrier. Annabel looked nervously at the starshot as if Penny was about to throw it at her. "I'll be back in a few days. It is Christmas Eve, after all."

"Leo, go with her. Make sure she's safe," Steven said.

"Of course," he smiled. He wasn't too happy with this plan, but he wasn't about to argue with a bunch of angels, including his teachers.

"Penny!" Arriane called as they turned to leave.

"Yeah?"

"Please be safe."

* * *

An hour or two later, Penny sat in her bedroom, twirling the glinting object over and over in her hands. It was a weapon, but not to her. She had tried pressing the starshot against her skin, but it didn't do as much as leave a mark. It could only damage the immortal, and she was merely a human.

Leo had driven her home that morning, promising to come back later. She had smiled as her parents hugged her when she walked in, asking about the party and sleepover. She lied easily, telling them about the dancing and games, the late night movie with her friends. "Tonight you're staying home, Penn. It's a holiday," her dad had told her before she could even ask. She didn't mind though. After learning so much about her parents' past, she wanted to spend some time in the present with them.

"Penn, honey? Can I come in?" Her mom called from the other side of the door. She quickly stashed the starshot underneath her pillow and flipped open a magasine.

"Yeah," she answer, turning her attention to an article on the latest stars' problems.

"I was wondering," her mom started, sitting down at the edge of the bed and watching Penny. Looking at her mother now was like looking at a history book. She remembered the way her mother had burned in Switzerland. The way she had screamed at Sword & Cross. The way she had a million lives before this one. "If I could talk to you about something. Something secret," she whispered.

"Um . . yeah. What is it?" Penny was confused by the question, not sure what secrets her mom was keeping.

"I just . . . I wanted to let you know that your father and I ar-" she stopped, her eyes settling on Penny's pillow. Behind it, Luce could just make out the familiar glint of silver, the point triangular tip. Her eyes widened and she backed away carefully. "Where did you get that?"

"What?" Penny asked. She hadn't noticed her mother's glance towards the starshot.

"_Where did you get that?" _She was scared now, her eyes wide and horrified. She looked like she was in the middle of a horror movie. "What do you know?"

"Mom?" Penny asked nervously, standing up to go comfort her mother. "What's going on?" Her heart raced as she followed Lucinda's eyes to her pillow, where sticking out from behind it was the tip of the starshot. She hadn't hidden in that carefully and now her mother saw it. _And knew what it was. _"Mom, wait! I can explain."

"Penny, I need you to tell me everything, right now. Starting with where you got that . . that thing!" Lucinda shrieked, too scared to name the deadliest weapon she knew. She placed her hands carefully on Penny's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, purple meeting hazel.

"I . . I can't."


	13. Chapter 12

"What do you mean, you can't?" Luce demanded, terror in her eyes. "Penny, you have to tell me _everything." _Her face was pinched up in fright, in fear that everything she's been trying to keep a secret from her daughter has gone to waist.

"I-I just can't! I don't know how to explain. I don't understand what's going on and I-" she broke off abruptly, squeezing her eyes shut. But it was no use. A stream of tears rushed down her cheeks, blocking her vision. Her mother softened slightly, wrapping her arms around her daughter. Penny sobbed into her shoulder, sniffling against her warm, familiar skin. "I'm sorry, Mom." Penny didn't know what she was apologizing for-maybe for falling in love with a Nephilim, for going with Leo to Shoreline, for listening to everything they fed her-but she felt that she had done something wrong.

"Shh," her mother sighed. "Don't apologize, honey. It's my fault. I knew this would happen sometime . . . it was only a matter of time," Lucinda said, caught up in her thoughts.

"What do you mean, a matter of time?" Penny squinted, looking up at her mother, confused.

Lucinda shut her eyes, silently cursing herself. "I'll explain that later. Right after you explain to me what happened yesterday. You're not supposed to know about . . . about starshots," Luce whispered, finally letting the word out. She was glancing nervously at the silver rod sitting on Luce's bed, even though it wouldn't hurt her much now. She was mortal, after all.

"Neither are you," Penny half-laughed.

"True," Luce smiled. "And I'll explain that, too. Come on, let's get your father." Lucinda promptly picked up the starshot, holding it carefully just to be safe, and led Luce down the hall to her parents room. Daniel was laying on the bed, reading some ancient-looking book. When the girls walked in, nervous expressions on both of their faces and red, splotchy eyes, Daniel looked up, scared.

"What happened?" he asked. In response, Luce just held up the starshot, too overwhelmed to speak. Daniel's jaw popped open, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "She knows?" he whispered as if Penny wasn't standing here.

"Yes," Luce says, squeezing Penny's hand. "And we're going to talk about it and figure this out." Lucinda gave Daniel an apologetic glance, but he just nodded, his mouth a thin, straight line. "Penn, sit down, honey." Penn reluctantly took a seat on the edge of the bed, Luce sliding in beside her husband. They grasped each others hands, bracing themselves for the tough story they'd have to tell. The confusing explanation. The goodbye to a completely mortal life.

"Let's start with where you went last night," Luce prompted.

"Oh, yeah . . ." Penny sighed. "Well, Leo kind of told me about, um, _you guys_." She raised her eyebrows for emphasis, not really wanting to explain the whole "your parents were angels," talk that he had given her.

"How'd he-?"

"Nephilim," Daniel supplied before Luce could finish the question. Penny looked down at the word. It was so weird to hear her father saying such strange, impossible things. "He talked about the 'honors program' at dinner. I should've thought more of it."

"Anyway," Penn said. She didn't want this talk to take forever. Every second twisted her mind. "After Leo told me, I didn't believe him, of course. I mean, who would, right? He told me that he'd prove it if I went to Shoreline with him. And I wanted to believe him, I guess. It made sense . . . so I went with him."

Luce nodded, getting where this was going. Daniel seemed to be angry with himself. He should've uncovered the crappy sleepover lies and the obvious mentions of Leo being Nephilim. He thought it was his fault this all happened. "And then all the, um, _angels_,"-Daniel and Luce simultaneously cringed at the word; it was hard to hear their daughter say it-"explained the story completely. And that was supposed to be the end of it. I was going to go home and just pretend like this never happened. That my parents aren't some notorious angels who were cursed," Penny tried to laugh it off, but it wasn't working. The tears were forming in her eyes again and Luce placed her free hand over Penny's, squeezing tight.

"It's okay," Luce soothed. "We're not mad, okay. We're the ones who messed up." Penny just nodded numbly. "Now what did you do next?"

"Well, Arriane kinda, um, _showed _me."

"Oh my God," Luce gasped. Telling was one thing, but showing was another. That was her personal history, not something her daughter needs to see.

"I'm going to kill her," Daniel muttered through his teeth. Though he now had the weapon to do so, the silver arrow resting on the nightstand, he would never actually do that. He's missed Arriane all these years and would do anything to see her again. "Where? When?" he wondered. He prayed that she hadn't seen Tibet or Venice, or any of the other horrible deaths. Hopefully she showed her something nice.

"Switzerland," Penny whispered, unable to meet her parent's eyes.

"The whole thing?" Luce asked nervously. She remembered that life very well; it was one of her favorites.

"Yeah . . . "

"Oh," Luce cried. "I'm so sorry, honey. She shouldn't have shown you that. I mean, I-I don't know why." Luce couldn't believe her friend had shown her young daughter her gruesome, horrible death.

"It's not her fault! She tried to stop me, but-but I wanted to see. I wanted to know." Penny rubbed her eyes, growing tired and sad.

Nobody really knew what to say to that, so they just sat quiet for a moment. Finally, Daniel wondered, "Did she show you anything else?"

"Yeah," Penny sniffed. "Uh, Sword & Cross. With the statue . . ."

Luce's face lit up at the mention of her last reincarnation and she turned to Daniel unconsciously. She remembered that moment perfectly, the way he had held her tightly, protecting her. The way he had appeared to have flied over to her. Back then, she thought it was impossible.

Daniel smiled too, though he wasn't as fond of the memory. After, Luce could have been injured then, and the idea made him fret. "Arriane always did like Sword & Cross," he rolled his eyes. "So, after that?"

"After that, we went back to Shoreline, and then you called," Penny answered, looking pointedly at her mom.

"Oh, yeah. By then, we were a little suspicious. And not to mention when you talked about hanging out at Cam and Arriane's!" she laughed.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. Why didn't you cover with that? I mean, you didn't hide the fact that you knew who they were. Or didn't even bother to ask _why_ I'm hanging out with a bunch of fallen angels!" Penny asked. It wasn't like her mother to let things slide that easily, and surely her father would have noticed.

"I . . . I was a little too shocked to register it. I didn't catch myself at first; I was too consumed as to figuring out why they were with you. I assumed that maybe they were just blending in at a high school party or something, but it was still too much for me to think clearly. I should've paid more attention."

"It's fine," Daniel said. "She already knew by then; it doesn't change anything."

"Well, actually it kind of does," Penny murmured, hoping her parents wouldn't get mad at this next part. "That's kind of why I have a starshot."

* * *

**Ahhh it's almost over! So, I would wrap it up right now, but I feel like it'd be better in two separate chapters. I'll try to post the ending sometime in the next couple days. Hopefully, this is making some sense. In the end, I'll explain why Daniel and Luce remember everything. But right now they're focusing on Penny. Anyway, hope you like it! Please review with any suggestions, comments, or criticisms :D**


	14. Chapter 13

Her parents stared at her, shaken by the word. Even though the gleaming object was just inches away, hearing their seemingly oblivious daughter talk of such a dangerous thing made them both cringe. "Why? Why do you have that in the first place?"

"I was getting to that," Penny muttered, not really wanting to talk about this. She didn't even understand the plan fully. "After you called me, everybody was confused as to why you, um, knew who I was talking about. They thought it was weird and got worried that you remembered anything." Luce's face sank and Penny realized what she said. "Oh, no! They wouldn't be mad if you remembered, which you do. But they were just confused by it. They didn't think the Throne would mess up like that." Daniel rolled his eyes at the mention of Her name.

"So, Miles did this-"

"Miles?" Luce nearly screamed, her eyes widening in delight. "Miles was there? And Shelby? Oh my gosh, I never even got to say goodbye to them." Daniel even looked a little excited at the mention of the Nephilim's names.

"Yeah. They were both there."

"Are they okay? What happened to them?" Luce asked eagerly. She didn't care as much about the angel's well being, mainly because she knew they could take care of themselves and had a very slim chance of dying. Her old friends, however, did not have that safety. She prayed that they were doing fine.

"Yeah, they're great. Really nice, too. Super cute together."

"Together?" Luce asked.

Penny nodded, confused. She had figured her mom at least knew that they dated or something. "Uh, married. I think they said they have two kids? I forget."

"Married? Those two?" Luce laughed. "Who would've thought that Shelby would fall for him? I wish I could see them." Luce knew that it would be a terrible idea to visit them. Not exactly something you do when you're not supposed to remember who they are. But she wished she could with all of her heart.

"So what happened?" Daniel asked after a while, knowing it was important to move on with the explanation.

"Miles did this thing where he made this, like, hologram of mom," she tried to explain. She forgot the word for it.

"He reflected her? Why?" Daniel wondered. He remembered how Miles has made a reflection of Luce on Thanksgiving, one that Cam had almost murdered.

"So that Steven could ask it questions. To see if she remembered. Which she did," Penny smiled. Luce just looked uncomfortable. She wondered what Steven had asked, but decided it wasn't her priority. "He decided the only way to see if you completely remember, and not just unconsciously remember little things, was to see if you were scared of the starshot."

Daniel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That's what Steven thought up?" He almost scoffed. "You'd think Francesca would think of something better . . . so, then how'd we get here?"

Penny was about to say how Francesca left, not wanting to interfere, but decided it wasn't important. "I came back and mom came in and saw the starshot. I didn't hide it very well."

"Wasn't that the point, though? For me to see it?"

"Yes, but I wasn't planning on doing it like _that. _I don't know. I'm still so confused," Penny said, her mind racing.

"I'm sorry, Penn," Daniel said, stroking her back. "I know this is very hard for you. And we're going to get through this."

"Can you start by explaining why you remember all of your . . past?"

Luce took a deep breath, locking eyes with Daniel, and then nodded. She didn't really feel like talking about this, not with her innocent daughter, but she knew it was necessary. This was the only way to fix this mess. "On my eighteenth birthday, I started having . . . dreams. Horrible dreams. Where there was fire everywhere. And I was in the middle of it . . . screaming and reaching for something. Someone." Luce's voice had grown quiet and she instinctively reached for Daniel's hand. He took it, kissing it quickly, and then held it in hers. Penn looked down at the carpet.

"I didn't know who it was at first. Your father and I were dating then," she smiled. "But I didn't have any reason to believe it was him. I mean, we'd only known each other for a year at the time. I was in love with him, of course, but I didn't know why I'd have such horrible dreams about him and a fire." Luce nervously cracked her knuckles, which made Daniel grimace. "Later I figured out that it was him. And that he was glowing this bright white. And I was reaching for him from within the fire, but it was useless. And then I'd wake up." Tears were forming in her eyes at the horrible memory. The dreams were torturous; she would wake up screaming and sobbing, burns covering her skin. She didn't understand why then. But now she knew the terror of it.

"I was having dreams, too," Daniel said, giving Luce a moment. "I was on the other side, reaching into the fire for her. It would just repeat each night for a while, nothing new. Until one day I realized the light around me. I was glowing. And in one dream, I turned around and saw that I had wings," he laughed slightly. "After a couple more dreams, I was positive that I was an angel, and that Lucinda was dying." His voice shook on the last word and he squeezed Luce tighter.

"I told Daniel about the dreams after a month," Luce whispered. "Now I know they started because I turned 18 for the first time. Same with Daniel. We think that it somehow initiated it. But once I told him, we shared what we knew from the dreams. We thought it was some strange coincidence at first, some weird psychological problem. But we just put up with the horrid nightmares. We didn't think more of it until the next year."

"What happened then?" Penny asked curiously. Her hands were shaking slightly at the thought of her mother, screaming in a tower of flames, Daniel holding onto her despite the pain.

"After about a year, the dreams started to change. I started seeing memories of Daniel and I that I didn't remember. Moments on the beach, in a graveyard, in a _war. _I thought it was my imagination, dreaming of times Daniela and I would share in the future."

"I started dreaming of waiting. I didn't really do anything in the dreams, but I knew I was waiting for something," Daniel shared. "I would wander through a city or look out a window, just anticipating something."

"You were waiting for mom. For her next life," Penny answered.

"Exactly. But I didn't realize it yet. We both kept each other up to date on our dreams, but we were both scared by them. I mean, its not every day that you have repetitive dreams that link you with another person."

"Eventually, the dreams became more clear. Specific moments in time. Faces of others, places I've never visited. I recognized Milan and England, a sister I never knew, a dog I never had."

Luce rested her head against his shoulder and he stroked her hair gently. "And I kept seeing glimpses of more . . . angelic things. Wings. The Throne. The Fall. Starshots. Outcasts. Occasionally I got some glimpses of your mother, of swimming with her in a foreign country, or speaking to her in an unfamiliar language."

"So, you both just kept dreaming of your pasts? But you didn't know it, right?" Penny said, trying to clarify. "How did you put the pieces together?"

"Yes, we kept dreaming about our pasts; and no, we didn't know it. But slowly, our dreams started to connect. We would have the same dream: running through a forest together, kissing in a stable, drawing tattoos on each others skin. Slowly the memories all came back to us. The dreams became fuller, with more information. Our time with the Throne. Luce's last incarnation. The search for the relics." Daniel sighed, not really sure if this was making any sense. After all, it wasn't something that just _happened. _It was this gradual realization, this slow epiphany.

"We were engaged around then, and by the time it was our wedding, we were both . . . scared, you could say. We were worried that something was wrong with us. The only thing that made us feel better was the fact that we were alive, that we felt safe. In the dreams, we always felt in danger and at risk. Being close to Daniel made me believe everything was okay." Luce was getting emotional now, remembering. Her heart ached, longing to go back to a simpler, ignorant time. When she was just a mortal girl in love with an incredible by. "And after we got married, that night, I remembered. I connected everything. It all made sense. Same with Daniel."

"But it felt like we knew all along. It wasn't a surprise, really. It was just remembering something long forgotten," Daniel smiled, looking down at his hand interlocked in Luce's.

"But why? Why did you remember? That wasn't part of the plan. You weren't supposed to remember," Penny urged. She was glad-thrilled-that her parents knew of their romantically tragic past, but the unsolved mystery made her anxious.

"We don't know."


	15. Chapter 14

Penny picked at her plate, not really interested in eating. But Luce had insisted, so she reluctantly scooped a forkful of vegetables into her mouth.

Luce and Daniel were sitting at the table across from her, watching her closely. After their discussion, nobody seemed to know what to say. Instead, Luce had just cooked up a quick dinner as a distraction. It was Christmas Eve, but nobody really seemed to think about that. Their thoughts were occupied by the confusing situation at hand.

"Do you want to watch a movie tonight? Or maybe bake cookies?" Luce asked, breaking the silence. They had a bunch of holiday traditions, but she had abandoned them after finding the starshot in her daughter's room. Lucinda hoped to possibly keep some part of their traditions alive this year. "We can make peppermint cookies?"

"No," Penny mumbled, biting into her bread. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep early or something."

"Penny . . ."

"It's fine." Penny swallowed another mouthful before pushing up from the table and heading off to her room. She needed to think.

"Luce," Daniel breathed, stroking her gently across the back. Her head was in her hands, her elbows pressing into the wooden table. Her lips formed a tight line as she fought the urge to cry. "It will be okay, Lucinda."

"No, it won't," she whispered, avoiding his eyes. "I don't know what's going on anymore. I haven't for years. And I finally thought we could get by with just pretending like it all never happened. I thought that maybe we could live a normal life. That I could forget about the fires and the shadows and the deaths. I just . . I thought that maybe we could do it, Daniel. I wanted to be able to be with you without any sort of supernatural complications for once."

Daniel pulled her hands away from her face and forced her to look at him. Her hazel eyes were filled with tears, her lips parted. He watched her sadly, longingly, and wished he could will the pain away. He hated seeing her hurt like this. It was unbearable. "You are with me. We're together, Lucinda. Nothing's going to change that," he said. "So what if our daughter knows? Isn't that a good thing? We don't have to hide anything anymore. And nothing bad will happen because Steven and the others found out that we know."

"How do you know that? What if the Throne finds out? I know She didn't mean for this to happen."

"If She finds out, then so be it. Our love is stronger than Her, Lucinda. That's why we remember. Because no power on earth or Heaven can stop us from being together. Remember that first day? When we found each other out of all the places in the world? That's what keeps happening to us. All those dreams, that was our love growing stronger, our memories overpowering whatever magic had caused us to forget. And we found each other. We always find each other," Daniel whispered.

His lips were close to her face and he could feel her soft breathing. She looked up and met his purple flecked eyes, the ones she always thought were the most beautiful in the world. "Always," she repeated. His heart had found hers in this mortal life, and she knew that, no matter what happened next, he would find her again. Without a doubt.

Daniel leaned forward and kissed her gently, sliding his hands around her and circling her waist. She leaned in tentatively, her tears escaping in shock. Daniel could taste the saltwater as it slid into his mouth and he deepened the kiss, healing her pain. She leaned into him. Her arms grazed his neck as he slid her onto his lap easily.

"Daniel," she murmured against his lips. As much as she wanted to continue, she knew they had to figure this out first. He didn't stop, though, but kissed her more passionately, loving her fully. "Daniel, please," she said again, pulling away gently. "We-we need to work this out first. I need to know what's coming next."

Daniel breathed in slowly, not wanting to let go of her. He nodded, though. He knew this was their priority. "What do you suppose we do?"

* * *

Penny laid in her bed, twirling her angel necklace in her hands. Her head was racing as she thought of all that she's learned in the past two days. Her parents were angels. Ones with the most romantic, most beautifully tragic story she had ever heard. And her mother had died over and over again, every seventeen years. And _this _was her first real life.

But her parents weren't supposed to remember any of that. This was supposed to be their one shot at a normal life, where they could fall in love like mortals should. But it didn't work out that way. And Penny didn't understand why. She didn't get why this was all happening to her right now. Why everything she thought was fantasy was reality and history and in her blood.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Her mind stopped working and she closed her eyes, her breath speeding up in a shaky rhythm. Tears slid down her face as her heart picked up speed. She could feel herself melting away, driven into darkness. She struggled for air as she whimpered, her breath caught in her through. Her hair tangled in front of her face. She buried her face in her pillow and tried to silence herself, but she couldn't. It was all too much, too fast.

* * *

Lucinda dialed the number, praying that he would pick up. Daniel sat patiently beside her, waiting anxiously. They had formulated a quick plan and hoped it would work. It's not an easy thing, summoning the Throne.

"Hello? Penny?" Leo answered on the other end. Luce let out a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Leo. This is Mrs. Grigori. I need you to do something for me."

"Oh," Leo said, surprised. He wasn't expecting this at all. "What do you need me to do? Is Penny okay?"

"Yes, Penny's fine," Luce lied. She knew that her daughter was a wreck right now, trying to take this all in, but telling Leo that wouldn't help anyone. "Are you still at Shoreline?"

"No, I'm at my house."

"I need you to go back and tell them. Tell them to meet us at the place."

"Them? The place? What are you talking about, Mrs. Grigori?" Leo sounded alarmed. Luce rolled her eyes, not exactly wanting to say this all aloud.

"Tell Cam and Arriane, Shelby and Miles, Roland and Annabel, Steven and Francesca. Tell everybody. Please."

"Wait-how did you-what did Penny say?"

Luce ignored his questions. "Just please tell them to meet us. They'll understand where."

"Uh . . . okay." Leo hung up. Luce breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Daniel.

"You really think you can do this? You haven't opened an Announcer in years," Luce said, worrying that this plan would fail.

Instead of answering, Daniel snatched a murky shadow from the floor and shaped it in his hands. It wasn't his best work, but after some stretching, the Announcer formed a clear door. "Ready?"

Luce locked hands with him and nodded. "Ready." The two plunged into the darkness.


	16. Chapter 15

After a long time of thinking, crying, breathing, and some sleeping, Penny stumbled out of bed and headed downstairs. It was 10 pm on Christmas Eve, but it didn't feel like the holiday at all.

Being alone for a little while after being pounded with new information for two days straight felt nice. She cleared her head, thought things through. She let all of her emotions out and finally felt (somewhat) calm about the situation. _It could be worse_, she thought. _Mom could still be bursting into flames on her birthday. _

Penny tried to put on a happy face, which surprisingly wasn't that difficult, but found the kitchen empty. She checked the den, the office, the bathrooms, the basement, but her parents weren't there. Maybe they went to sleep really early. She trudged back up the stairs and found their bedroom empty. "No no no," she murmured, not really sure what she was scared about. Could some bad fallen angels have taken them? Were there even bad fallen angels?

Her mind raced as she searched for her phone, anxiously dialing her parents' numbers. They both went straight to voice mail. Nervously, she padded in Leo's number and held the phone tight in her hand. "Leo? My parents are missing. I don't know what happened and I'm scared," she said right as she heard the other end _click. _

"Penny? Your parent's didn't tell you? Your mom, uh, called a little while ago. She said she wanted to meet everybody somewhere, but I have no idea where. The angels all know, though."

"Wait, what? Why are they meeting them? What's going on," she cried, worried more than ever. She didn't understand why her mom would call Leo out of all people. If she needed to talk to the angels, why not go tell them herself? And what was going on? Suddenly, all of her time purging her emotions and calming down was a waste and she was back at the beginning.

Leo breathed in a deep breath. "I think they're summoning the Throne."

* * *

Lucinda tumbled out of the black, murky darkness and onto soft, farmland. She had braced herself for the fall, but still was out of practice and fell hard on her knees. Daniel, more experience, only tripped as he landed. He rushed to help Lucinda up, who brushed nervously at the soil covering her dress. "Wasn't so bad," she laughed.

He smiled gently at her, his violet eyes glowing in the bright light. They looked around at the place that was like a distant memory. The perfect blue sky. The flowers that seemed to go on and on. The faint outline of snowy mountains in the distance, just above the horizon. It had been nighttime when they left, but here it was still day. Butterflies circled the field in peace, pink and gold.

They were standing at the spot of the Fall.

"Daniel," Luce whispered, looking over at the small hut in the distance where she had stayed so many years before.

"Lucinda," he responded, circling her waist with his hands and pulling her close.

"I'm scared," she choked out. Despite the fact that she was now grown up, had a daughter, had been exposed to the horrors of the immortal word, and had seen into her most tragic past, she still had her fears. And this was, in some ways, one of them.

"Don't be," he said softly, stroking her cheek with the side of his thumb. He rested his forehead against hers and looked down into her perfectly hazel eyes. "Everything will work out. I know it. And . . . and if She takes away the memories, then so be it. That won't stop us, Lucinda. You know that. We're stronger than that."

"I know," she said. "I'm not scared of the Throne. I'm . . . I'm scared of seeing all of them again. Of things changing," she admitted. Though she loved her friends, she had learned to live without them and had moved on. Seeing them once again would only make it hurt more when they had to leave again, forever.

Daniel pursed his lips, not expecting that. He, himself, was terrified of seeing their faces again. He'd only ever known them as an angel; as a lovestruck, never-aging, perfect angel. But now being merely a middle-aged mortal, he almost felt embarrassed. But he wasn't going to tell Luce that. "It will be fine. I promise."

She nodded against his chest and stayed there for a minute longer. Then, Daniel led her over to the cabin. They would wait there for a while, until the angels arrived. He didn't know how long it would take for Leo to get back to Shoreline, inform everyone, and then for them to travel here. Presumably shortly, but he wasn't positive. He worried about Penny and regretted not telling her they were going. But he couldn't have. She would've only begged to come with them.

They shuffled into the cabin, hand in hand, anxious. She nearly jumped back at the sight of a familiar figure sprawled across the couch. She was dressed in her usual punk-like attire, with a spunky dress and combat boots. Her hair was cut in a similar style to Luce's hair from Sword & Cross, all choppy and messy, with a streak of purple running through it. Luce scanned the room for others, but found none there. As the door slammed shut, her head twisted around, her angelic eyes settling on the couple framed in the doorway. "Luce, darling," Arriane chirped. "So good to see you!"

* * *

**Sorry for the super short chap :( I just don't have time right now to write the whole thing out, but everybody was asking for an update soon. Hopefully, I'll get the next (longer) chapter up by the end of the week, but I have midterms, so I may not. We'll see! Anyways, please comment and let me know what you think!**


	17. Chapter 16

Luce's eyes widened in surprise, but her expression was quickly replaced with joy. She rushed over to meet Arriane, who had the same dorky smile plastered on her face. Neither of them cared about explanations or "How have you been?" They missed each other too much.

Arriane pulled Luce into a welcoming hug, despite Luce's height on her. Tears filled her eyes as she realized how much she had missed her. It felt like lifetimes since she'd last seen her-which it technically had been. "Arriane," Luce breathed, resting her chin on her shoulder, bending down slightly.

Arriane smiled as she held onto her long lost friend, remembering their time together. "God, Luce, you've gotten so tall," Arriane said, trying to laugh it off, but the sound of her tears caught up in her throat was obvious.

"I'm not seventeen anymore," she replied, grinning, before pulling away. Arriane looked the same as before to Luce. She had been expecting that, of course-angels don't age-but it still surprised her. She had turned into a completely different person over the past lifetime and Arriane was just . . . Arriane.

The angel turned over to Daniel, who was smiling lightly in the corner. "Grigori!" she laughed, running and jumping up onto him, hanging around his neck like a little kid.

"Hey, Arriane," he replied, smiling brightly. As much as he hated to admit it, the crazy angel was one of his best friends. He ruffled her choppy and laughed.

"I'm sorry, Arriane. I . . . I should have told you a long, long time ago," Luce apologized as Daniel pulled away, filling the empty spot beside Luce. "We just didn't want to ruin everything. We thought we could hide it for the rest of our lives, but that wa-"

"Oh, shut up," Arriane cut her off, swatting her arm playfully. "Luce, you don't need to explain. You think I don't know how your mind works by now? You have nothing to apologize for. I was just . . . surprised, I guess." She shrugged as if this wasn't such a complicated problem.

"So was I," Luce laughed, hugging her again. "I really missed you," she sighed.

"I missed you, too, Luce. Probably more than you'd think," she admitted. "I know that we were only close during your last lifetime, but I've known you since, well, the beginning of time. And it was . . . weird for all of us to not be with you. Or Daniel." Daniel looked downward, feeling uncomfortable. He wondered what the angels have gone through since he left, what his mortality has taken from him-not that he'd trade his angelic powers if it meant losing Luce.

"And when Penny showed up the other night," Arriane added belatedly. "I . . . kept thinking about how much she was like you both, and how much I missed you. And when we found out that you remembered, I got really excited. I mean, I was scared, of course. But I was really excited. I wanted to see you. I've really, really missed you." For Arriane, this sentimental talk was very rare. Luce stared at her and realized that she wasn't the only one who's grown up.

"Where is everybody else, Ari?" Daniel asked, realizing that-as much as he liked the reunion-they were here strictly for business.

Arriane bit her lip and looked away, not wanting to meet his familiar purple eyes. "They . . . um, aren't coming."

"What do you mean, they aren't coming? Leo was supposed to tell everyone," Daniel asked. If they didn't have enough angels, they wouldn't have enough power to summon the Throne, let alone get Her to pay any attention.

"Well, he was going to!" Arriane started. "And he told me first, since I was the only one still at Shoreline. Everybody else had left for the night. Well, Roland was there, too, but he couldn't come . . . For, you know, obvious reasons." Nobody liked talking about Roland's unfair decision that made him a demon. "I told Leo I would tell everyone for him, but I didn't exactly want to."

"Why not? Arriane, this is important," Daniel demanded, getting a little angry. He remembered how carefree Arriane used to be, but he thought she would understand the importance of this situation.

"I know, Daniel." She rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to catch up with you guys first." She bit her lip and looked down. "I mean, like I said, I _really _missed you. And if they all came, you know that Francesca wouldn't waste a minute." Even Daniel couldn't resist laughing at that.

"Thanks, Arriane. But are they coming at all? Because it's kind of necessary," Luce reminded her. She cracked her knuckles, nerves filling her mind, and Daniel cringed.

"You guys are just the same as always," Arriane noted before answering. "And yes. I told them to meet us here, just a little later. They should be here any minute, actually." She checked her wrist, as if a watch was there, and squinted at it. "Yup! Right about . . ."

Everybody snapped their heads to the large black shadow forming outside the window, the shadows of figures stepping out of it, dusting off themselves, looking around anxiously. Luce nearly squealed at the sight of everybody she's missed. "Now!" Arriane finished, opening the door to let them through. "You guys ready?"

"No, but we don't have much of a choice," Luce admitted. Her heart was pounding, her head racing. She grasped desperately for Daniel's hand before stepping outside of the cabin and into the pale, warm light.

* * *

Penny trudged through the halls of an empty Shoreline, finding her way to the Nephilim Lodge. As soon as she got off the phone with Leo, she had hopped into her car and driven all the way back to Shoreline. It was about 12:30 by the time she got there, and she grew sad knowing that she was spending Christmas like this: in a panicked, confused, parent-less state.

She found the Nephilim Lodge after a minute of searching and rushed in hastily. Leo was inside, pacing around nervously. When he saw Penny, his eyes lit up with relief and he visibly relaxed. "Penn, oh God, Penn, I'm so sorry," he said, moving to her side. "I thought she told you . . I wouldn't have agreed if I'd known. I just, oh, Penn, I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry that I ever told you about your parents. I ruined everything. It was stupid of me . . I was shocked. I just, I've changed your whole life around in a matter of days and now you're scared and confused and-"

"Leo," Penny shushed him, pressing her finger to his lips. "It's okay, Leo. I'm really glad you told me. If you hadn't, I wouldn't know about this incredible past that my parents have. And I wouldn't have realized that . . . that I love you, Leo. I really do. My parents showed my what real love is, and I realized I have it with you." She took a deep breath and gazed up into his wide, comforting eyes. "I love you."

Leo pulled her in a kissed her gently, wrapping his arms around her neck, pushing aside her long, black curls. "I love you, too, Penny."

* * *

**So, I've realized they said "I love you" in the 4th chapter, but it was casual. This was meant to be the first time they really said it and meant it. Also, sorry I'm putting off the whole confrontation thing for so long. I just wanted to add some other details in. I promise it will all happen in the next chapter! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	18. Chapter 17

"Eeeeello! Let's get this party started!" Arriane called to the group who had just gotten out of the announcer. Everybody looked her way as she spoke. They were all there: Francesca, Annabel, Shelby and Miles. Everyone but the demons that Luce still missed deeply. She had to stop herself from sprinting like a little kid towards them. Instead she tried to hold her composure as they reached the group.

The two angels looked exactly the same as Luce remembered. Young and ethereal, beautiful and angelic. Seeing them wasn't that exciting, mainly because she had never been very close with the two. But seeing them after so long still made her bubble with excitement.

As for the two Nephilim, a completely different reaction resulted in Lucinda. Her heart stammered as her eyes settled on her two friends, grown up and together, in love. Miles looked like your typical middle-aged sports fan, with his lucky cap on his head, and his broad build. His hair was slightly gray at the roots, but was still a recognizable brown. Luce reminded herself that he was seventeen years older than her, but it comforted her to know that she wasn't the only one who had aged. He was smiling his goofy, lopsided grin that was contagious.

Shelby was standing with her hands on her hips, still looking as snappy as the day Luce first met her. Her long blonde hair was flowing freely, now dotted with brown highlights. She had grown at least half a foot, and her slender frame told Luce that she kept up her yoga. She looked so much older, so much different that Lucinda remembered.

At that moment, Luce didn't care at all about the current situation. She just wanted her friends back. She dashed up to them and practically knocked them over. Shelby grabbed her first, pulling her into a firm, familiar hug. "Oh, Luce," she whispered, holding her tight. Her voice was different then before, but still held that same, high-pitched girly voice Luce knew. Luce had tears rolling down her eyes. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Shelby until this moment.

Miles decided to pull her from Shelby and wrapped his large body around her petite one. "Miles," she squeaked, trying hard not to cry. At one point, she had thought she was in love with Miles. She cared for him so much. She remembered all the times he had helped her, saved her, just because that's who he was. He was purely good, and Luce had never felt so relieved to see him.

"Luce, I missed you so much." he whispered, pulling her away slightly so he could look into her eyes. "But, what's going on? Why is this happening?" he asked. Miles seemed so worried that it made Luce feel guilty. She had caused so many people pain because she had kept this secret for so long.

"I don't know," she admitted. Shelby was busy hugging Daniel, even though the two weren't necessarily friends. Luce shook her head and grabbed Miles again. "I'm sorry, Miles. I'm sorry this is happening. But I've really missed you."

"You too, Luce. You don't know how much I've thought about finding you. I didn't . . I didn't know what happened to you. And I kept wondering if you were happy, if you finally got what you wanted with Daniel. And it killed me to know that I would never find out," Miles sighed. "But then I did. And now I'm here, talking to you. And God, it's incredible."

"I thought about you, too. I hoped that you found somebody else." Luce bit her lip and looked towards Shelby. "And I'm really glad that you did."

Miles chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. It kind of happened when we were searching for you through the Announcers."

Luce was about to speak, but somebody wrapped their arms around her before she could reply. "Annabel!" Luce gasped, smiling at the girl. The two exchanged greetings as Daniel headed over to Francesca. He had done his hellos and was ready to get this over with. He wanted everything settled and normal again.

"Are you sure about this?" Francesca asked him. Though she didn't have a better solution, summoning the Throne wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to.

"It's the only way," Daniel nodded. Luce walked over to his side and the small group formed a little circle. Shelby and Miles were holding hands, looking at Luce excitedly. She grinned back despite her nerves. Daniel started to talk, explaining the process when two shapes tumbled out of an Announcer, right in the center of the circle.

"Penny! What are you doing here?" Luce asked, shocked. She helped her daughter up, looking at her with concern. She hugged her tightly as Leo stood up from beside her and smiled awkwardly at his angered teacher.

"I . . . I couldn't miss this. I needed to be here with you. This was my fault, after all," Penny shrugged. She walked over to her father and gave him a tight squeeze, then took her place beside Leo in the circle.

"How did you get here?" Francesca asked angrily. She knew this was not the place for a young Nephilim and human girl.

"By Announcer, obviously."

"Yes, but how did you know where to go? Nobody knows about this place except for us."

"I just kind of let it take us. I didn't really know where we were heading, but I guess the Announcer knew," Leo shrugged. He didn't expect this to work, and was just as surprised as Francesca that it did. "Anyways, we're here now."

Luce looked nervously at Penny, wishing she would have stayed home. She didn't know what was going to happen today. It could be dangerous and Luce didn't want to take that risk with her daughter. "Penny . . ."

"Mom, no. I'm staying, okay? I'm as much a part of this as you are." Luce gave her a look. "Okay, so maybe it's more about you but I'm still pretty important," she laughed.

Luce looked at Daniel, who's violet eyes were focused on his daughter. He rolled his eyes and nodded, his lips in a thin line. "She deserves to be here." Reluctantly, Luce nodded. She wasn't happy about this, but wasn't in the mood to argue. There were more important matters to attend to.

"Are we all ready then?" Francesca asked. The group nodded. "Okay, then let's begin."

"What exactly are we beginning? I mean, how does this work?" Leo asked.

"We're just going to wing it?" Annabel wondered. "No pun intended," she laughed.

Francesca closed her eyes for a brief second before agreeing. "Yes. Nobody's really done this kind of of thing before so we're just going to hope for the best." With that, she unraveled her glowing white wings. They stretched from her shoulder blades to at least 4 feet back. She flapped them a few times, rolling her shoulders, before settling herself.

Arriane and Annabel did the same, releasing their own silver-white ones. Arriane shook her slightly pink ones around, getting comfortable. Annabel fluttered hers gently like a butterfly. Daniel felt a tinge of jealousy at seeing their wings and wished he could have his own back. Even Lucinda was envious for the wings she had for no more than an hour in her last life.

"We're going to try to call Her by adoring her. Praying, you could say. And wishing for Her help," Francesca explained. It wasn't a great plan, but there wasn't another option. Nobody knew how to do this.

"Okay," everybody murmured. The angels all seemed to brighten, their wings creating a ring of light around everybody. Luce closed her eyes and tried to think of the Throne as she remembered Her. She thought of that bright, blinding light. Her beautiful, regal appearance. And she prayed with all her might to gain her attention.

Everybody did the same, thinking hard of the Throne. Hours seemed to pass as they thought with every angelic fiber of their beings. Even Penny tried to summon the small, Nephilim part of her that she believed she held. Miles channeled all of his reflected power into his thoughts. Shelby reached for the angel blood inside her. Leo thought of all his classes at Shoreline, everything he had heard of about the Throne. Daniel and Luce concentrated on their past lives, when they held that power inside of them.

Luce was about to give up, to admit that it was hopeless, that they should just try to make sense of this on their own. A blinding light seemed to fill her vision despite her closed lids. She squinted open and saw, standing in the center of the circle, the familiar, powerful warmth and glow of her. The Throne.


	19. Chapter 18

**Sorry this took so long to post. I actually typed it up a day or two ago, but then my chrome died and the whole thing was erased, and it was too late to retype it all. Anyways, here it is :) **

Penny almost fell to the ground in disbelief, but Leo luckily caught her. She couldn't grasp the concept that she was looking at God. Luce stood with the most hopeful expression on her face, and Daniel clutched her hand tightly.

"You summoned me?" The Throne asked. The blinding light had faded to a dim, manageable glow.

"Yes," Francesca answered, taking the lead as usual. She cleared her throat and stepped forward. Before speaking, she bowed gratefully towards the Throne. "We have come across some problems with Lucinda and Daniel's mortality. It seems that they have retained some of their memories and we were unsure of what to do. We came to you in hopes of answering some of our questions."

"I know," the Throne answered. "I do see everything, of course."

"Of course," Francesca repeated.

"But by coming to me, you have disobeyed me. You have gone against my terms that you should not interact with Lucinda and Daniel in this lifetime."

"Yes, your Greatness. I know. And I beg for your forgiveness," Francesca answered, bowing down again, her wings and arc behind her. "But it was not on purpose. They came to us, not the other way around."

"So? You could have turned the request away."

"It was my fault!" Penny gasped, stepping forward. She couldn't let Francesca take all the blame. "I got them into this mess. It's because of me. Punish me and leave them alone. Please."

Lucinda reached out towards her daughter, but was pulled back by Daniel. Interfering would only make things worse. "You should be punished. All of you, since you all hold fault in this matter. Including myself, though. So I cannot punish you without doing the same to myself. I was the one that caused this."

Everyone gave her a perplexed look. No one understood how the Throne could have caused all this.

"And I knew that this moment would come. It was only a matter of time before some whim of fate brought you two to me." She turned her gaze to Luce and Daniel, who both seemed to squeeze each other tighter. "See, when I gave you mortality, I allowed a loophole, much like Daniel did with his curse. I predicted that you two would not find each other in this lifetime, and that if you did, it would surely prove how powerful your love is. How powerful love can be, even if it isn't towards me. And I felt that much strength should be rewarded."

"So this is all one big set up?" Arriane called, angered. How could someone so divine and heavenly have been so cruel as to have set them all up like this?

"Not exactly. I didn't know if Lucinda and Daniel would meet, or even fall in love with each other. But I just knew that if they did, they would regain their memories as a prize. That was my gift to them."

"But . . . how could you not know? You're God. You know everything," Lucinda wondered. Tears streaked her face and she felt like she was about to crumble. This was too much to handle. This was not at all what she was expecting.

"I only know so much, Lucinda. There are some things in this world that are out of my reach. Some things only nature can take care of. Some things only humans have power over." The Throne's light dimmed so much that she appeared almost human. She was beautiful, wearing a long, elegant white dress, and her light hair-almost white-swayed in curls around her. "And the power that you hold, Lucinda, is immense. And thus I gave you the prize of your memories, and a choice."

"A choice?" Lucinda asked. Arriane furrowed her brow. Francesca nearly gasped. No one understood why the Throne was giving them so much after denying them their freedom so long ago. The Throne seemed like a whole new person with a whole new set of rules. "What do you mean?"

"I would like to give you the option of immortality back. You would regain your status as a fallen angel and retain all your memories. It would be like before, but you would still hold your current life."

"What about Penny?" Luce asked immediately. Penny walked over to where her parents stood. Luce and Daniel placed her in between them and held onto her firmly, not letting her go that easily.

"She would become Nephilim and continue her life. Nothing would change, except that you would be immortal. You would have all the powers you once held, all the abilities you've desired."

Daniel beamed with excitement, ready to take Her up on the offer. He was about to accept when Luce stopped him, holding up her hand. "And the other option, you . . . honor?"

"You could go back in time. Erase all of this discovery. Return to your normal human lives and act as if nothing else happened. You would keep your memories, but in secret. No one would ever find out, and I would ensure it. Your love would be yours."

Penny didn't seem to thrilled by this idea, since it meant giving up all that she knew. Daniel didn't seem as excited about it either. "Let's do this, Luce. We can live forever, be together without anyone to stop us. We could see Cam and Roland, Arriane and Annabelle. It would be everything we ever wanted. We could get our wings back," he whispered, cupping her face.

"But . . . Penny," she replied, looking at her daughter, with her matching black hair and pink cheeks. With Daniel's purple eyes and strong cheekbones. With her angel locked secured around her neck.

"Would be fine! She could go to Shoreline with Leo and be happy. She could stay with us until college, and then go out and find love for herself." Penny looked up to where Leo stood and smiled slightly. He nearly blushed, but maintained his composure. Penny wasn't as successful.

"We'd have to watch her die, Daniel," Luce whispered so that she wouldn't hear. "I . . . I can't do that. That's not how things work. Humans die before their children."

"But we wouldn't be human, Luce! We would be angels again. We could have all the time in the world to ourselves," Daniel urged. His eyes were a brilliant shade of purple.

Luce swallowed hard and looked away, towards the Throne. "There's no other option? No in between? We can't just leave things how they are now?"

"I'm afraid not. It's all or nothing. That is my offer," she replied solemnly. Luce didn't understand why She couldn't just change her deal, but she wasn't about to ask. "What do you say, Lucinda?"

She breathed in hard and looked at everybody around her. Miles and Shelby were smiling at her supportingly. Annabelle and Arriane looked nervous, but excited. Francesca was putting on a professional face for the Throne. Leo looked uncomfortable with the situation, as did Penny, but also seemed pleased. And Daniel-Daniel was staring at her with the most longing, beautiful look in his eyes. All he wanted was to fly again, to be where he belonged. Daniel didn't belong as a human, and Luce knew that. He was meant for better, more impossible things. How could Luce stop him from that?

"Do . . . do we have to choose the same option?" Daniel looked at her in fear, in horror. She turned away. "I mean, could we choose different things?"

The Throne pondered this for a moment before answering. "If you'd like. However, that would make things a bit more complicated. No one would retain memories in that case, even Daniel. It would just be how things used to be, but with Daniel as an angel. Nothing more."

Daniel looked pleadingly at Luce, who was crying now. "I can't do this, Daniel."

"It's okay, Lucinda. Just breathe." She took a large breath in and then faced him, hoping she didn't look to terrible. "Choose whatever you want. I'll go with you. I don't want to be apart from you in any way, especially not on a mortality standard.

"But I can't take all this away from you," Luce said, gesturing to the other's wings and angelic presence. "I can't ruin your dreams, Daniel. I know you want this. I know that you always have. And I can't stop you from that. It wouldn't be fair."

"Luce, I love you. And if staying here is what you want to do, then that's what I'll do. My dream is your dream."

Lucinda turned and stole a glance at the angel's. She _did _dream of this, though. She always had. Ever since that first time she dreamed of Daniel with his wings, she wanted this for herself. But Penny . . . She couldn't just leave her. She couldn't bear to watch her die.

"Mom," Penny said. She touched her mother's arm gently, causing her to look at her. She had sensed her mothers hesitancy, and knew it was because of her. "Don't give this up because of me. That's crazy. You have the chance to be an _angel, _and you won't because you're afraid of what will happen to me? I'll be fine, mom. It's not like you're going anywhere. We can still live together. You could still be with me for everything." Penny shrugged like this was an easy choice.

"But when you . . ."

"Die. I know, mom. I'll die. But that's what happens to humans. It's going to happen whether you become an angel or not. So why let death stop you from getting what you want?"

"Penny, you don't understand. I know that everyone dies . . . but angels don't. I couldn't stand to have to watch you . . ."

"Mom." Penny was crying now, too. She didn't know how she had gotten here, how her life had changed so dramatically in a matter of days. "It will be okay. Whatever you choose. Just don't change your mind because of me." Penny hugged her tight before pulling back. Daniel leaned in and kissed her gently, calming her down.

"Whatever happens, we'll find our way. We always do."

"Always," Lucinda grinned. She turned to the Throne and took a deep breath.


	20. Epilogue

**6 years later**

"Almost finished," Lucinda muttered, squinted her eyes and tilting her head to the side. Penny rolled her own eyes but waited patiently. Her mother pulled a strand of her silky hair out and twisted it into a curling iron. "This is the last one, I promise."

"You said that 5 minutes ago," Penny argued, but was smiling to herself. She hadn't spent a lot of time with her mom in a while, and it felt good to be able to talk to her again.

"I know, but I mean it this time!" Luce smiled. She released her finger off the clamp of the curling iron and watched as the ringlet fell onto Penny's back. Luce snatched a few bobby pins from her dresser and clipped them into place, pulling Penny's hair back carefully to frame her face. "There! Now let me just help you with your makeup." Luce searched through a bin of jumbled up makeup.

"Mom, I can do it. It's fine," Penny said, helping herself to some blush. Luce moved to pick up some mascara, but Penny gave her a look that said she could handle it. After all, she wasn't a little girl anymore. Luce became sad at the thought.

Luce started doing her own hair, twisting it up into a loose bun. A few stray curls fell down and she left them there before starting on her own makeup. "Girls?" Daniel said from outside of the room. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yes, just a few more minutes!" Lucinda called, slipping into her dress. It was a long, lace dress the color of the sky. The fabric clung to her body, accentuating each and every perfect curve of her body. The back was open, exposing her flawless ivory skin. Two smiles scars, barely noticeable, marked her shoulders.

"Mom, will you help me with this?" Penny asked. She was holding a hanger, wearing only her undergarments. Luce rushed over to her aid and carefully slipped the gown off the hanger, then helped Penny slip it on. The fabric was light and flowed elegantly over her. Penny sucked in her breath and held up her hair as Luce laced the back up.

When she was done, Luce stepped back and covered her mouth. Penny was standing in front of her, dressed in white. A sweetheart neckline showed off her bare neck, albeit the small, angel-wing necklace she always wore. The dress embraced her skin until it reached her waist, where it flowed out into a soft circle of fabric. A small sash, dotted with sparkles, was wrapped around her waist, ending in a lovely, satin bow. "Oh, Penny," Luce cried. She smiled at her daughter and ran her hands over her cheeks. Penny smiled and fought back her own urge to cry-she couldn't ruin her makeup. "You are so beautiful." She blushed in response.

"Now, come on. We can't exactly be late," Luce said, snapping out of her state of shock, though her voice cracked a little. She snatched a shoe box out from under the desk and opened it up, revealing two simple white heels. Penny lifted the hem of her dress and stuck out her foot while Luce slid the shoes on. When she was done, she grabbed her own pair of heels and stepped into them.

"Mom," Penny whispered, looking in the mirror and Lucinda fixed her veil carefully atop her head. She couldn't believe that this was happening. Not to her.

"Yes?" She looked at her daughter with a mixture of happiness and sorrow.

"What happens after this? Penny asked, breathing hard. "With you and dad?"

"I . . . I don't know," she admitted. She hadn't thought much about it.

"Are you just going to stay here and have a normal life? Or are you going to travel the world and do impossible things? Are you just going to go now? Now that I'm on my own?" Penny couldn't hold in the tears any longer. This was it for her and her parents and their normal lives. She was growing up and her parents were not.

"Oh, Penn. You know we would never do that." She looked into her violet eyes; just like her father's. "We're going to stay here for a while, okay? We would never leave you, Penny. Not if you don't want us to. It will be fine." The truth was, Luce didn't know if it would be. She didn't know what she would do with the rest of forever, where she would go, who she would meet. She just knew that, right now, she was so proud of her beautiful daughter.

"You promise?"

"I promise," Luce said. She hugged her quickly, careful not to mess up her hair, before heading out into the hall. Cam and Roland were leaning against the wall, talking quietly. Arriane and Annabel were laughing with each other, their matching bridesmaid dresses looking brilliant. Shelby and Miles's daughter, Bridget, was dancing around in her little dress, while their son, Ben, examined the rings. Arriane's jaw dropped as the two walked out and she squealed.

"Oh, baby Grigori! You are _sooooo_ gorgeous!" she laughed, pulling her in for a hug. "I wonder who you get that from." She winked at Luce before hugging her too.

Annabel smiled at her and said, "You look stunning, Penn." She said thanks as Arriane handed her her bouquet: white and purple peonies.

Luce walked over to the boys and hugged them tight. "Beautiful, as always, Luce," Roland said, winking. Cam kissed her hand and cocked his head to towards Penny. "You did well," he smiled.

"Are you ready?" Luce asked, turning nervously to her daughter. The doors leading outside of the house, onto the warm island sand, loomed behind her.

"Wait!" Daniel called from behind. "You weren't going to start without me, were you?" He walked over to Penny and took her in. He smiled and remembered the way Luce had looked in her wedding dress. They were both so similar, so beautiful. "You are so lovely, Penny." He kissed her forehead before turning to Lucinda. "As do you," he said. She leaned in and kissed him quickly, the heat of their touch surging through her. When they pulled away, they both took a deep breath in.

"Get moving, Daniel!" Arriane shouted, giggling. She pushed him beside Penny and they linked arms. She then took her place behind Annabel in line.

"Okay," Penny breathed, nodding nervously. She flipped her veil over her face as Roland and Cam propped the doors open and headed in, one after the other. Bridget followed, skipping merrily across the sand and tossing peonies in every direction. Her brother went after, walking solemnly down the line before Annabel walked in. Arriane shimmied at the door with excitement before stepping onto the beach. Luce turned around quickly and kissed Penny on the cheek before walking down. Despite the fact that she was Penny's mother, Luce had been chosen as maid of honor.

Finally, the famous song played and Daniel led Penny across the sand. From the moment she entered, she continued to stare at Leo, who was standing in a shiny tuxedo under an arch. He looked so handsome, his hair brushed smooth and his eyes glinting under the light. He was looking at her in awe and wonder, smiling with all the joy in the world.

When they were about halfway there, Daniel slipped away and let Leo take her arm. She looked down at her arm linked in his and blushed. He winked.

The ceremony started and Luce kept her eyes trained on her daughter, on all the love she had. She hoped that it would only be as strong as hers and Daniels, and assumed it would be. After all, Leo had stayed with her through all of the chaos she's been through. They were so perfect together.

Luce didn't even realize it when Ben walked over and handed each of them a ring. She was so caught up in her thoughts. "I vow to love you for every second of every day, with each fiber of my being. To hold you when you cry, to help you when you're hurt. To keep you safe and to keep you close. To never let anything get past the love that I have for you. We have been through so much and we've only just begun. I cannot wait to be able to say that you're mine and I'm yours. That's all I've ever wanted, Penny. I'm yours." Penny was tearing up now, light streaks marking her face.

"And I vow to give you all of my heart and soul, everything that makes me who I am. You have shown me a whole new world, a whole new life that I never imagined before. You have opened my eyes to everything that is unearthly and unimaginable and _beautiful_, Leo. You have showed me the way to a whole new kind of happiness. I vow to return that favor to you and to help you feel the same joy I do. To comfort you and understand you, even if it's hard. And most of all, I vow to find you when you're lost. I will always find you."

Daniel looked over at Luce, who was now crying silently. He smiled at her with a gleam in his eyes and she smiled back, remembering all the times he said that to her. That they would find each other.

"Do you, Leo Sharman, take Penny to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Leo sucked in a deep breath and stared at Penny in desire. "I do."

"And do you, Penny Grigori, take Leo to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Penny looked over towards her parents and choked back more tears. She stared at Leo with all the love in the world and thought of the amazing life they had ahead of them. "I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!"

Leo leaned in and gingerly slipped his hands over her face, cupping it softly. His lips touched hers tenderly and heat rushed through her body. She pushed her body closer to his and kissed him for a moment longer before pulling away. They stared at each other for a long moment. "I love you, Leo," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Penn," he replied before facing outwards and heading back down the aisle.

* * *

After the party was over and everyone had gone home except for a few, Daniel and Lucinda walked hand in hand across the beach. She rested her head against his shoulder, the wind brushing her skin. He kept a tight grip on her and made sure that she was warm, though the temperature didn't really affect angels.

"She's all grown up, Daniel," Luce whispered, staring out across the ocean. "Our little girl." Every parent goes through that stage when they realize this, but for Luce and Daniel, it was different. Every day was another day that brought them closer to watching their own daughter surpass their ages and grow old and die while they stayed young and eternal.

"She'll be okay, Lucinda," Daniel said, reading her mind. "It will all be okay."

They walked a moment longer. Lucinda could make out the lights of the house they rented glowing, the figures of the fallen angels and Nephilim dancing and laughing together in celebration. "Daniel?" He looked at her with curiosity. "Let's dance," she said, a glint in her eyes. She stepped out of her shoes and rolled back her shoulders, revealing her perfectly white wings. They were soft and fragile looking, sprouting out behind her in a brilliant arc. "Like old times."

Daniel was still always blown away by the sight of her wings, so vibrant against the night sky. He remembered when he took her dancing at Shoreline, sneaking her away when he wasn't supposed to see her.

He released his own wings, which billowed out of his back with an enormous gust of wind. Luce rolled her eyes at his showing-off and leaned in closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and placed her feet atop his. She closed her eyes and kissed him gently, flapping her wings. They lifted up together, their wings in sync with each other. They drifted over the ocean, the moonlight framing them in their slow dance. They swayed back and forth, the spray of the ocean tickling their skin.

"We really do make the perfect couple," Luce laughed, her chin resting on his shoulder. Her feet were almost touching the water and her wings were flapping slowly against the wind. She felt so whole.

Daniel smiled to himself and kissed her shoulder, right where her wings sprouted from her back. "A match made in Heaven."

* * *

**AGGGHHHHHHHHH ITS OVER! I'm actually very sad right now. This is probably one of my favorite fics I've written, and I really don't want it to end! I hope you liked it, though :) I thought it was a cute way to wrap up the story. I'd like to apologize for the cheesiness of the wedding, but I don't have much experience with them so I didn't know what to say. I hope that you guys enjoyed this, though! Thank you so much for reviewing, following, or favoriting! It means a lot to me! **

**I'm going to be posting a one-shot of the times when Luce woke up with dreams of the past (mentioned earlier) sometime soon, so keep an eye out if you want to read that. Thanks again! **


	21. Extra Scene!

Hey! So, somebody requested that I included a little bit of the scene right after Lucinda chose to become an angel. It took me a while because I've been working on some other stuff, but here it is! It's very short. Also, I will have that one-shot up soon (the one I mentioned at the end of the epilogue)!

* * *

"An angel," Lucinda blurted out. Her eyes were wide with fear, her hands shaking slightly. She sucked in a shaky breath and stared the Throne straight in the eyes. "Make me an angel."

She smiled slightly, her teeth glowing as bright as the angelic power around her. "As you wish," the Throne smirked, extending her hands towards Luce.

Daniel slipped his hand around hers and she stared at it for a moment, just cherishing this normal, human moment. It would be her last. She wrapped herself in him as the sunlight seemed to fold around them. A sphere of glowing silver encompassed their embracing figures, and Lucinda held onto Daniel tighter. Tears fell down her face as she said goodbye to her mortal life, but she didn't know whether they were from joy or sorrow. Was she happy to gain this immortality? This unearthly life? Or was she too overwhelmed by the sadness from losing everything mundane and real?

"Luce," Daniel breathed against her neck. He opened his purple flecked eyes and pressed a kiss softly against her forehead. "It's over."

Luce breathed in deeply, her eyelids flickering. When she looked up, she saw Daniel's familiar face. But there was something different about him, something new yet familiar.

Wings.

Unfurled behind his golden back was a familiar pair of crystal white wings, she reached her hand out to touch them, aching to remember their soft, comforting feeling. His wings had always made Luce feel safe and warm, and they did that right now. All her sadness was forgotten and she felt happy.

"Lucinda," Daniel whispered, his voice cracking slightly. His eyes were fixed just past her face, and Luce quickly snapped her head around to see what he was staring at. But she was stopped by herself, and the large, elegant bright white floating around her.

Her eyes widened as she carefully examined them, touching the feathers gently and with care. They were like an extension to her nerves. She could feel every touch, every gust of air that encompassed them. And they moved so easily, like swimming. She fluttered them gently, but not enough to pick herself off the ground. She looked around for the Throne, but She was gone.

"Oh my Go-gosh," Penny murmured from Luce's side. She was staring, wide-eyed and full of wonder, at her parents, the angels. She knew this was coming-in fact, she _wanted _Luce to accept the offer-but it was stilling shocking her for to see. Luce nervously turned around so that she was facing her daughter, as did Daniel.

"Penny, I'm so-"

"Mom!" she cried, rushing towards her. She practically grabbed her, wings and all, into a warm, familiar hug. Luce relaxed against her touch and stroked her hair gently, like she always did. "It's so beautiful. It's so amazing," she kept repeating. After a long while, Penny shifted her embrace to Daniel, who picked her up easily in his arms and spun her around for a quick moment.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Luce asked nervously, feeling guilty already.

"Okay with it? Are you kidding me? I'm probably more excited than you about this!" she laughed, slipping her arms around both her parents. "You guys are _actually_ the best. I can honestly say that none of my friends' parents are as cool as you." Everyone laughed at that.

"I promise, everything will be the same. I'll do your laundry and take you out and buy you-"

"Mom," Penny interrupted her, looking at her, humour in her eyes. "Just shut up already. I want to go home! It _is _Christmas, after all."

Daniel rolled his eyes and Leo grabbed Penny away from him. "Well, I suppose we should celebrate, then!" he grinned. He tucked his wings neatly behind his back and promptly opened an announcer. Luce did the same and took hold of Arriane, who hugged her so tightly she thought she would burst.

Together, they traveled through the announcer and back to their homes. No matter what challenges they would face, they knew that it would all be okay. They would find their way, and they would find each other.

Always.


	22. One-shot

****So I wrote a short one-shot about when Luce and Daniel started dreaming of their past, and I'd love it if you read it! Thanks :)

s/9155506/1/Remembering


End file.
